Sink or Swim
by Setkia
Summary: It wasn't his fault fairy tales painted fairies as being beautiful and majestic, full of grace and delicate fragility, swan-like and melodious. Looking at the man sitting at his kitchen table who was all brawn and no brains with bulging muscles and green hair, Sanji was pretty sure the fairy tales had mislead him.
1. The Fairy by the Lake

**_Author's Note:_** _So I went on a_ ** _Junjou Romantica_** _marathon and this story was born and for some reason, I assume you people want to know the backstories of why these stories exist so I'll tell you and you can read along if you find it interesting. In the episode of Misaki's birthday (where Usagi-san takes him away on the train), Usagi-san says that the main reason why he went there was for the sake of marimo, and then he mentioned fairies so yeah … Zoro's a fairy. Tada. This is a five-part story, pretty short, been reading through_ ** _Beautiful Disaster_** _and cringing. I made so many stupid mistakes and at untimely times too, like randomly in the middle of a really important emotional scene. I have a question for you, as I always do. Where did they go? Usagi-san and Misaki, that is. It's where this story is set and if you look up where Zoro is from (if he were Japanese), tell me why I find it so funny. If you know where the_ ** _Junjou Romantica_** _couple went, you know where this story is set. In an alternate universe of that location because I'm too lazy about geography. This is an actual location. I don't own_ ** _One Piece_** _, since the first chapter of_ ** _Tag_** _was so big, expect the second one to be that big so it'll take a while. It's all planned, it's a matter of getting around to it. I've played around with fairy anatomy and how it works. Yeah … Sorry about that. Song to listen to through this song is **All of Me** by John Legend._

* * *

 ** _Sink or Swim_**  
 _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **Summary**

 **It wasn't his fault fairy tales painted fairies as being beautiful and majestic, full of grace and delicate fragility, swan-like and melodious. Looking at the man sitting at his kitchen table who was all brawn and no brains with bulging muscles and green hair, Sanji was pretty sure the fairy tales had mislead him.**

* * *

PART ONE: THE FAIRY BY THE LAKE

* * *

Sanji's hands wove into the girl's beautiful blonde locks and pulled her closer, feeling her shapely body against his. The sound of her laughter was like tinkling bells and her lips were soft against his own as he opened his mouth wider. He could lose himself in this feeling. The faintest, most timid and adorable moan escaped her lips. And that's when the gagging started.

Sanji snapped an eye open in surprise, looking for the source of the noise. Zeff wasn't supposed to be home for a while and the other cooks were out. The young chef-in-training closed his eyes again, trying to immerse himself into the kiss once more but the gagging stopped him again.

It was through squinting, trying not to show any sign of lack of interest towards his partner, that he spotted … _it_. He had no better word for it. Twice the size of his thumb was a tiny man with green hair and green wings that looked like glass trying to choke himself by shoving his hand down his throat.

Sanji pulled away and grinned at the girl, though his attention was still captured by the strange little thing that stood on top of the rocks that circled the lake.

"Conis," he said softly, "when are you to be home again?"

"In a few hours," replied the girl with a grin. "Why, Sanji?" She played with his hair with her gentle touch and he was reminded once more why he adored the finer sex, yet that damn grumpy green person was ruining it all for him.

"I think the guys are going to be back sooner than expected so I think it would be best if you left." Sanji's heart yearned to tell her to stay, but until he got the mystery of the strange green man sorted out he knew he couldn't be nearly as suave as he usually was.

Conis nodded, frowning slightly but she gave him a kiss on the cheek and let Sanji walk her home, something that he could not put his entire focus on since he was too busy wondering if the annoying green cock-block had choked and died on his thumbnail sized fist yet.

When he came back, he leant down by the water's edge and stared. The little tiny green man was no where to be seen.

Strange.

"Oi, Sanji! What happened to your date?" yelled Patty with a large, shit-eating grin on his face. "Get bored of you already?"

"I walked her home," said Sanji, rolling his eyes at the big, beefy man's remark.

"Eggplant, don't lean so close, you'll fall in and the mermaids'll get ya!"

Sanji turned sharply and rolled his eyes, glaring at Zeff. "Shut up, old man!"

"You know you can't swim," Zeff said, curling the tips of his large moustache. "Don't go playing around the water."

"I'm nineteen, I'm not a baby anymore!"

"Yeah, that's right Boss," leered Carne. "Sanji's a big boy now, he needs the lake to get some. His charms and wit alone are not enough, he needs that extra shove in the right direction!"

Sanji jumped off the rocks surrounding the lake and grabbed Carne by the front of his shirt. Though the man was at least three decades older than Sanji, he was still shorter and getting up in his face never failed to make a yelp come from the fat, pudgy chef.

The small green man was long forgotten at this point and instead Sanji diced up his fish as usual and served it to the ungrateful bastards he called family.

* * *

Growing up near a lake had made Sanji a rather outdoors-y kind of kid so playing by the waterside was nothing new to him, even at nineteen. He liked to watch his reflection in water or see the colours of the fish while he was having a smoke, so him hanging out on the rocks was nothing new. Hearing a yelp beside him _was_ new though.

Sanji jumped and nearly fell off the rock. It was kind of stupid, to live by the water and not know how to swim but Zeff had never gotten around to teaching him, it was always about the cooking, about learning how to make the perfect trout rather than learning how to swim with them. When he looked down at where his hand had been, he spotted the green man again.

He squinted and stared, confused. "What are you?" he whispered softly. The little green man coughed while Sanji picked him up into the palm of his hand and stared. The puffs of smoke that escaped his cigarette made the little man cough once more and he was fairly certain they were growling at him. Like an animal.

"Hands off!" The man's voice was squeaky being so small it made Sanji laugh. He grinned and shook his head.

"Nope, I'm interested now."

"Put me down!"

"Get down yourself," Sanji challenged.

To his surprise the little green man ran to the edge of his palm and jumped right off. The sound he made when he hit the water was a much louder splash than Sanji would've figured someone of his size would make and likewise, Sanji got sprayed with water, affectively putting out his cigarette.

What surfaced from the water was not a small man. Rather, it was a man about the same size as Sanji, perhaps a bit taller. There were many features Sanji could've focused on, from the man's tanned skin to his steel cold grey eyes. He could've remarked about how he was practically wearing a white muscle shirt that showed off everything including a large scar that went on a diagonal across his chest, or how his hair was green for crying out loud! But instead his eyes settled on the most delicate feature on the not-so-delicate man.

Wings.

Large, delicate wings with a beautiful interwoven pattern were spread out on his back. They were green, but a paler green as though to compliment his hair. They looked so fragile. They were wet, which meant they sagged a bit and from the way the man was treating them, shaking his head to rid his hair of water, he was used to them. Just who the hell was this? Or rather, _what_ were they?

"Second hand smoking is worse than first hand," snapped the man and to Sanji's surprise his voice was much deeper than it had been before. He crawled out of the water, revealing strong legs covered in black pants. He was barefoot and around his waist was a green _haramaki_. Sanji was sensing a colour scheme here.

"W-who … _W-what_ are you?" Sanji spluttered out, backing away from the edge of the lake despite the fact that everything in his body wanted to touch those delicate wings and see if they were as frail as they looked. Such a beautiful accessory to such a gruff looking man.

"None of your Goddamn business," snapped the man who then approached Sanji and grabbed him by his hair. He pushed him onto the ground and mounted him, using his hair to guide his head back as he got up close to his face, staring intensely as though trying to memorize everything about him. He had a very critical and analytical gaze as he shook his head as though dissatisfied with what he saw. "You're defective."

"What the fuck?" There were greater things to say, Sanji knew that. But when the only thing that came out of the dumbass's mouth was an insult, Sanji felt the need to throw back a few cuss words. "You're the one who's straddling me and yanking me around like I'm some rag doll and you're calling _me_ defective Marimo?"

The man blinked, confusion in his eyes. "Marimo?" he repeated slowly as though the word were foreign to him.

"Yeah, Marimo, got a problem with that?" Sanji snapped.

"You're not freaked?"

"Of course I'm fucking freaked, a neanderthal just climbed out of the water after being the size of my thumbs and he looks like the missing samurai of the Feudal period!"

The Marimo looked confused. "But you're not running away."

"No, I can't, you have me trapped."

"And you're not trying to escape?"

"My curiosity overrides my better judgement at times."

The man nodded and leaned closer still, his breath on Sanji's face. Suddenly a hand was pulling at his eyelids. The green-haired _thing_ was inspecting his eyes and could probably see his rods at this point. "You really _are_ defective …"

Sanji slapped his hand away. "Get off of me!"

The Marimo looked surprised but it quickly faded. "What happened to not running away?"

"I changed my mind, you reek of seaweed and coral, get the fuck off of me, I'm wearing a good suit."

The man looked up and down at his attire and rolled his eyes. "You call this shitty thing a good suit? Hate to see what passes as bad."

"Shut up!"

The man blinked. He was so close to him now, his breath on his face he could almost taste him now, his long exhales blowing at Sanji's hair. He felt a shiver run down his back, suddenly very uncomfortable. "You're not supposed to see me."

"What?"

"You're not supposed to see me," repeated the Marimo. "Or hear me. Or be able to touch me." He grabbed Sanji by the chin and tilted his head to various angles. "What is wrong with you?" He opened Sanji's mouth without his consent and started staring at his uvula, before sticking a finger down his throat.

Sanji bit him.

"Ow!"

"That's what you get for sticking your fingers where they don't belong," snapped Sanji. He analyzed his situation. Right now he was against the rocks with a Marimo holding him hostage with one leg in between both of his and another on his outer left, his hands closing in on him. Sanji lifted his right leg, curled it around the man and proceeded to kick him in the skull with it.

The Marimo lurched forward at the impact having the opposite affect Sanji had wished for. He shoved and the strange, winged-thing, still surprised, let go.

"You're wet and disgusting," Sanji snapped at him.

The green haired man rolled away slightly and then sat up straighter until he was sitting cross-legged on the rocks with a balance that, had a tsunami come to take him, he wouldn't have budged. "What's up with your eyebrow?"

Sanji rolled his eyes. "None of your business, what's up with your hair?"

"None of your business."

Well this wasn't going anywhere.

The man's head tilted towards the home a few meters away from the lake. "Is anyone home?"

"Why, are you going to rob us?"

"Why would I?" The Marimo snorted. "Look, I was just curious why you could see me and for my curiosity I get nearly squashed and smoke in my face so I think I'll just stay away from you. You can pretend it was all a dream if you want."

"Why I could see you?" Sanji froze. "You mean—?" Sanji raised his foot and kicked the man in the head once more. "Pervert!"

"You're the one who was sticking your tongue down her throat!"

"She wasn't complaining!"

"She could barely speak, she was choking on all that spit and shit!"

Sanji was silent for a moment, watching as the man got up, ready to presumably go back to wherever he had come from and shrink back to his size of being twice his thumb but something stopped him from letting him go. "How long will it take for them to dry?"

"Dry?"

"Your wings." Sanji had never thought he would say this in his life. "Are you hungry?"

"Doesn't matter," scoffed the man. "And it's not your job to feed me. It's not like I'd eat any of your crap anyway."

The Marimo's stomach rumbled.

Well that settled it.

"Hey, let go of me!"

Sanji shook his head, gripping the man's wrist tighter. "No one's home and it's not like Zeff's going to oppose to me feeding someone," Sanji said, rolling his eyes. "Now come on!" He dragged the protesting winged being across the messy lawn until they were at the home and when he opened the door, the man just stopped and stared at him.

"Come in," Sanji said impatiently.

"You know, if I _did_ want to rob this place, it'd be really easy." The man bent down, his wings twitching slightly, gleaming in the early afternoon sunlight. "You've got no lock to even pick. Confident in your alarm system?"

"Confident in our own abilities more like," Sanji scoffed. He dragged Marimo inside and shut the door behind him, guiding him by his shoulder. It was weird to hold onto his shoulder when he could faintly feel the touch of those fragile wings on his own shoulder. He pointed to a chair at the table. "Sit."

The Marimo sat.

"So do you just feed strangers?"

"If they're hungry."

"Right … Cause _that's_ normal."

"Better than ignoring the needy," snapped Sanji. "You gonna tell me your name?"

"Why would you need it?"

"Well, it's either your name or Marimo, take your pick."

The man crossed his arms and turned his head away. There was silence as Sanji opened the pantry and looked at their supply. No wonder the cooks had gone to the grocery, there was shit in the cabinet. "Allergic to anything?"

"Zoro."

Sanji turned and stared at him. "What?"

"My name … it's Zoro."

"Like the swordsman from that Spanish book by something or another McCulley?"

The Marimo— Zoro— tilted his head to the side inquisitively. "What?"

"Never mind. Got any allergies?"

"Nothing that I know of."

"Anything you don't like?"

"Sweet things."

Sanji and Zoro (God that name was so strange) were silent as Sanji worked, cooking up some stew with what little vegetables were left. When he placed it on the stove to cook he turned to the man. He had barely moved since they had spoken, sitting almost like stone.

They were silent like that, staring at each other until Zoro broke the silence.

"Aren't you going to ask?"

"Ask what?"

"About the whole … wings thing? The growing and shrinking? _The green hair_?"

"Do you want me to ask?"

Zoro turned his head away swiftly, his neck visible, long with a strong jawline. "Not particularly."

"Then I won't ask."

"But you're dying to know."

"Someone's conceited."

"I am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Sure, whatever you say." Sanji grinned. He could tell Zoro didn't like how he had just given into his poor attempt at defence so easily. "So when will they dry?"

"Doesn't matter," Zoro repeated gruffly.

"Okay then … So do you just hang around by the lake or what?" asked Sanji, randomly fishing for anything from the mysterious grumpy teen. Well, he assumed he was a teen. Ha. Fishing.

"I thought you weren't going to ask."

"I'm not asking about how you look, I'm asking about your home."

"Don't got one."

"That's stupid, everyone has a home."

"I lost mine a while ago."

"So you're homeless?"

"I guess."

Sanji bit his lip. "So the lake is suddenly a hotspot for the homeless?"

"No, I live there."

"But you said you have no home."

"I don't."

"But—"

"A home is a lot more than just where you live, isn't it?" Zoro turned his chair around, seeming to get more comfortable. He leaned on the back of the chair using his elbows to support his head while he tilted it forward slightly. Sanji could remember Zeff telling him that doing such a thing was dangerous. "I can live somewhere without it being my home," Zoro said with a roll of his eyes. "You humans are so narrow minded."

"So you're not human?" Sanji had a feeling he wasn't, unless this Zoro guy was really into cosplay and had become some kind of blonde idiot who went around drinking potions that made her smaller and eating cake that made her bigger.

"I thought you said you weren't asking."

"About your appearance. This is about biology."

Zoro sighed, as though conforming to Sanji's loophole. "Sorta." He stretched and yawned. "I mean it's a bit complicated. But I guess I'm now something you guys would call a fairy."

"A fairy?" Sanji repeated.

"Got a problem with that?"

Sanji shook his head, but he couldn't help questioning it.

"Don't lie to me, I hate liars." Zoro leaned closer to Sanji, tilting his chair forward even more than before. "Tell me what you're thinking."

"It's just … Aren't fairies supposed to be delicate and fragile and all that shit?"

"Your point being …?" Zoro asked, tilting back onto the feet of the chair.

"Does that make you defective?"

"What'dya say?" demanded Zoro, glaring at him.

Sanji stood up again and glanced at the clock. The stew should be done now. He turned off the stove and stirred it, wondering if what he had said was really as offensive as Zoro took it to be. It wasn't his fault fairy tales painted fairies as being beautiful and majestic, full of grace and delicate fragility, swan-like and melodious. Looking at the man sitting at his kitchen table who was all brawn and no brains with bulging muscles and green hair, Sanji was pretty sure the fairy tales had mislead him.

"Don't ask what I'm thinking if you're just going to get offended by it," Sanji said, rolling his eyes. He poured some stew into a new bowl and set it on the table. "Now sit properly."

"Yes mother."

Zoro ate in silence. No, that was a lie. He ate like a starved man who had forgotten what food tasted like. He was so fit, Sanji was prepared to say he lived on a protein smoothie diet in which he consumed not a single solid thing. He was loud as he chewed and slurped, bits of the liquid dripping down his chin.

"Good?"

"It was okay."

 _Liar._

Zoro then proceeded to belch very loudly.

Sanji shook his head, laughing. "Whatever you say."

"Oi, Sanji! We're back!"

Both teens looked at each other in surprise, frozen in shock. Sanji knew Zeff wouldn't be opposed to Sanji feeding a stranger, but rarely ever did he bring the strangers into their home. Never mind soaking wet strangers who claimed to be fairies.

To Sanji's amazement, Zoro shrunk himself back down to his previous height of the size of Sanji's thumbs so when the door to the kitchen suddenly opened there was a nearly empty bowl of stew that Sanji was staring at as though utterly dumbstruck.

"What's with all the mud you tracked in?" demanded Zeff.

Sanji opened his mouth but closed it again, unable to come up with words. He sat there, looking like a fish when he felt something on his pant leg. Looking down he realized it was Zoro, shrunken Zoro, clinging to the cloth of his pants. That's right. Crossing large ground was probably hard when you were the size of a small cup of rice. A _really_ small cup of rice. Sanji leaned down and shoved Zoro into his boot before standing up. "Tch, there's no rule against it, is there, old man?" asked Sanji, walking across the room feeling as though his face was on fire.

He didn't know Zoro, not really and he was shoving him into his shoe to get him out of the house? What was he doing? Why was he trying to cover for him? Was there anything to need to hide anyway? He walked swiftly and quickly, his eyes on the ground noticing all the splotches of mud Zoro had dragged in. He then tossed his boots out the door.

"There, satisfied, you old geezer?"

Zeff stared at Sanji strangely before shaking his head and muttering something about "teenagers these days" and barking at him to get the rest of the groceries.

Sanji let out a sigh of relief. They were safe. But from what?

* * *

"Your feet stink."

Sanji rolled his eyes. He was sitting on the edge of the lake with new shoes on while Zoro wadded in the water. He scoffed and took a deep inhalation of the smoke. "You got any complaints? I got you out, didn't I?"

"You didn't have to do that," said Zoro. "They can't see me."

"Didn't want to take any chances."

They fell silent and Sanji swore a cricket chirped.

"Well … thanks anyway, even though what you did was stupid."

Sanji smirked and glanced over at him to find that the fairy's ears were tinged pink, his neck even beginning to turn a shade darker. "No problem."

"You still need to wash your feet," Zoro snapped.

"What happened to the thanks?"

"I take it back."

"You can't take it back, it's already out there."

Zoro huffed and folded his arms. It looked as though the fairy was very pissed.

"Shouldn't you be letting your wings dry?"

"Doesn't matter, besides, I live in the lake."

Sanji raised a curious eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Can you not take your dates here? It's kinda sickening to see you playing tonsil hockey," Zoro said in a huff.

Though Sanji didn't go for men even he could admit Zoro looked adorable that way.

"Does it annoy you?"

"I've lost my lunch on countless occasions, so yes."

"I'll be sure to bring them often then," Sanji grinned.

"Bastard."

Sanji leaned forward on the rock, laying on his stomach and lighting up a new cigarette. "What, you think you do any better? How many girls go for fairy boys?"

"I've never tried. At the very least if you're going to keep bringing them here, you think you could get quieter ones? Or ones that didn't sound like they had swallowed a whole tub of helium?"

"No girl is ever quiet once I'm done with her," Sanji said with a smirk.

Zoro turned his head away.

"Jealous?"

"As if. I don't need the others to get a wind of this and start betting into human affairs anymore than they do."

Sanji straightened up slightly, intrigued. "What do you guys bet on?"

"Stupid stuff, like which one of the loud mouths in that house will accidentally drop something into the water next," Zoro said. "Or how long you'll be with the same girl."

"I'm not a player," said Sanji defensively.

"Of course you're not."

"I'm not," Sanji said. "Girls just prefer not to settle down with me because they can't handle my commitment."

"Please, I've heard you with them, they're probably going home to puke up their dinner from the cheesy lines you feed them," Zoro said with a scoff. With each move he made, his wings seemed to glimmer more. While Zoro could stay still and speak, not being an animated talker in the least, his wings would move with the slightest change of emotion in his voice or twitch of his body.

"How long have you been here, seeing me do these things?"

"Long enough to know you're a complete playboy."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"What do you know?" Sanji snapped. He lit up a new cigarette and gave Zoro a lazy grin. "So, are mermaids hot?"

Zoro rolled his eyes. "What, you don't have any other burning questions about my biology? Like how I can survive underwater? Or how I know the English language?"

Sanji shrugged. "I figure if fairies are real then so are mermaids. They hot?"

"Of course you'd think of mermaids."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're a hormone driven neanderthal."

"That's the kettle calling the pot black," Sanji said. "Besides, that just means I'm healthy."

"More like horny." Zoro looked at Sanji and under the moonlight all of his harsh features looked even more straight and sharp, not softening his appearance at all and yet the wings added a certain gentle quality to him, like a vulnerability that he couldn't hide. "How are you not freaked out by this in the least?"

"What do you mean?"

"How are you so accepting of the idea of fairies? I mean you were raised to be a normal teenage boy, weren't you?"

"I don't think my brain has finished processing all of this, I'm sure I'll freak out soon. Would you like me to call you when I do?"

"Please and thank you."

"Oh and the brute knows manners!" Sanji chuckled and watched as Zoro turned red again. "Aren't you tired, treading like that?"

"It becomes second nature to you," said Zoro with a shrug.

Sanji rolled over onto his back and stared up at the stars. "So does that make you an Aquarius?"

"What?"

"Your star sign."

"Don't tell me you believe in that zodiac bullshit."

"I don't, I was just curious."

"Scorpio. It's Scorpio."

"Ah, the scorpion."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It fits you. Very aggressive. I'm pisces."

"Of course it's the one with the fish."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're a cook, aren't you?"

"How'd you know?"

Zoro gave him a look and Sanji was reminded once more of how he had made food for the man. "Oh. Right." He tried not to blush, but it was rather hard. He averted Zoro's gaze instead. "You know what?"

"I'm not a mind reader, shit-cook."

Sanji rolled his eyes. "You love my cooking. But anyway, what if I just got your approval?"

"My approval?" Zoro echoed, staring at him confused. "Don't tell me you're one of those dependent people who need other people's approval in order to get any satisfaction out of life."

"I am not! I was just thinking … what if I brought the girls buy and to your opinion of them?"

"You'd break up with your girlfriend if I told you I didn't like her?" Zoro asked, sounded awed, not that Sanji could blame him. After all, he was essentially letting a mythical creature dictate his love life so he could swim in the waters as he pleased. "Are you crazy?"

"It's debatable. You don't want to?"

"What on Earth possessed you to think that giving me total control of who you fuck was a good idea?"

"I never would've put it that crudely," Sanji said. He stared at the north star and thought about it. "More like … You'd be screening them. I can always disagree with you if I want to."

"And what, this is for my own self-comfort? You may feed the needy, but you're not a saint. I could tell you wanted to murder me for cock-blocking you. And then there's the matter of you being able to see me, which still doesn't make any sense." He hoisted himself onto the shore and joined Sanji on the rock. "Don't be so selfless, Curlicue. You give someone like me that control and your whole world goes downhill. Besides you have no reason to trust me. I could prevent you from getting laid for the rest of your life."

"Okay you're making this out to be a bigger deal than it actually is," Sanji said. "I'm just saying if it's such an inconvenience to you then we can discuss them when they're gone." Wow this sounded more stupid the more he spoke about it. "Besides I don't think you're a dictator."

"You'd be surprised how evil fairies can be when they want to."

Sanji stared at Zoro who turned away but there was something about the way the moon was profiling him and the way he tensed up that made Sanji pause. "Speaking from experience?"

"People get hurt. Good people." He paused and looked back at Sanji, something broken in his eyes before he blinked and it disappeared. "You don't even know me."

"I wouldn't mind getting to know you."

"You say that now."

"Are you going to be like one of those sparkly vampire types who say that we shouldn't be friends but make an attempt at it anyway and then eventually just give in and press me up against my bedroom wall after stalking me for a while and nearly drain me of all my blood?"

Zoro blinked. The close atmosphere was gone and instead Zoro was laughing. It was a deep, rich chuckle that ran through his whole body, starting from the pit of his stomach, relaxing his body and his face seemed to soften up as he laughed. "Only if you want me to."

Sanji gulped. Banter, he was good at banter, that was just about every conversation with the other cooks, but this … There was something in the air that hinted at something more, something just beneath the surface, something that he hadn't counted on. He felt sparks, he felt the tension in the air that he had only ever felt with a woman. It was almost like it was … "Are you flirting with me?"

"Like I'd want to try my hand at a human, that always ends badly." Zoro shook his head. "Anyway, get some sleep, you're thinking about stupid things. Trust me, giving me a monopoly over something as fragile as your love life is not the right move. You're only young for so long."

"And how old are you?"

"Physically? Probably your age, but I stopped aging a few years ago."

"Why?"

A dark look came over Zoro's face. "Doesn't matter."

"Come on—"

"Sanji. Go to sleep."

Sanji could only stare when Zoro dove back into the water, leaving ripples in his wake. He didn't resurface after fifteen minutes and Sanji could only assume he had gone back to his home.

No, not his home. Where he lived.

 _"A home is a lot more than just where you live, isn't it?"_

Sanji did as told and went to sleep that night, dreams of fragile wings and moss balls leaping abound.

* * *

Sanji stared into the water and frowned. Had yesterday been a dream? Everything had been so weird and crazy, could he really believe that fairies lived in the lake? Was Zoro a figment of his imagination? He had said that no one else could see him. But then he remembered the warmth of Zoro's hands on him when he had forced him down on the rocks and he knew it couldn't have been a dream.

"Oi, Zoro!" he hissed in a loud whisper. Zeff was home and maybe this was risky and maybe he'd looks stupid but he was going to do it anyway. "Bastard!"

He leaned closer to the water, knowing he had to be careful. The rocks got slippery with morning dew so leaning forward wasn't the smartest move someone like him could make. "Marimo, scared to come out?"

And then he slipped.

Sanji's arms went flailing out as he felt his body tip over, knees sliding from the rock. He could feel himself falling in so he shut his eyes tightly and gripped the rock, trying to find something secure he could hold onto, his nails digging into the dirt that got stuck between the cracks of the rocks, but it didn't work, he still fell forward. He took a deep breath, cursing himself under his breath. It was probably all a dream and now he was going to die and drown because of something stupid he had done. How much dumber could he get?

His face splashed into the water and it got up his nose. He felt the urge to breathe as he felt his body sink, his lungs screaming for air but he ignored them. If he breathed now he would surely drown faster. He tried to imitate what he had seen others do, moving their legs and arms in a fashion that would keep them afloat, trying to get his head above water but he couldn't.

Suddenly warmth surrounded him in every direction, strong arms around him. He felt himself being hoisted up but he refused to open his eyes, terrified of what he would see. He could feel the hard rock when he was placed onto it though and the warmth of the sun on his suddenly cold body.

He coughed up water onto the land, climbing higher on the rock to get better ground. He had never appreciated air more than he did at this moment. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the sky. For a fleeting moment he had thought he would never see it again.

"Shitty cook."

The sun was blinded by a large head of green hair and Sanji couldn't help grinning.

"You came."

"You nearly died, idiot!"

Sanji gripped onto Zoro's shirt, fisting it tightly beneath his fingers, smelling him, taking him in. "It wasn't a dream."

"Did you have to risk your life to test that theory?" demanded Zoro, pushing him off of him. "Shit, get some dry clothes, you're going to get hypothermia."

Sanji couldn't help but laugh, tossing his head back. It felt so good to be alive. He had never thought of himself scared of the dark but when it was all he could see, Sanji couldn't stand the thought of it bring the last thing he saw. He choked up more water and Zoro frowned.

"You're so stupid."

Sanji rolled his eyes. "W-wouldn't have done it if you had j-just come."

"Don't make jokes when you're recovering."

"W-worried?"

Zoro clicked his teeth and said nothing. "Look, I don't need to play lifeguard, it's not my job to save your sorry ass every time you feel a bit suicidal."

"I'm not s-s-suicidal!" snapped Sanji. "How about you just come the n-next time I call you?"

"You're shivering." Zoro frowned. "Shit, just go inside before you get sick."

"Y-your wearing wet clothes t-t-too," Sanji said through shattering teeth. It was warm in the sun, he would dry off soon. This was like when you got out after swimming, right? He imagined so. "D-don't nag me."

"You could've died!"

"Thought you said f-fairies were e-evil."

"They can be," Zoro said. "You're lucky I'm the one who saw you, otherwise they would've dragged you to the bottom and you can forget about getting warm. A stone cold corpse is what you'd be."

"Y-you're good."

Zoro scoffed. "Don't give me so much credit. Now get inside before you turn into a Popsicle."

Sanji frowned. "D-does that m-mean you'll leave?"

"As far as others are concerned, you're talking to thin air, it would be best if I left."

"B-but you're warm."

"And you're delusional."

Sanji tugged on him harshly and buried his face in his chest. "You're warm," he repeated.

"Look, you need to go—"

"Will you c-come?"

"What?"

"N-next time, will you c-come?"

Zoro stared at him, his brow furrowing. He looked handsome that way, in a strange, rough kind of way. "Will that make you go inside?"

"Yeah."

Zoro sighed and pinched his nose. "You don't want to be around me."

"Are you going to agree or not, s-shitty bastard? A-as you pointed out, I-I might die of hypothermia, d-do you want my death on your c-conscience?"

Zoro had a conflicted look in his eyes, something Sanji couldn't name, emotions flying everywhere. "Do you really want me around?"

"Yes."

Zoro looked behind him, as though he was scared something would jump out of the lake and attack them. "Okay, fine. I'll come. Now get your ass back inside the house."

Sanji frowned. "D-don't agree if you don't w-want to."

"Really? You won't go in if I don't agree to see you, but you don't want me to agree if I don't want to see you?"

"I d-don't want to force you." Sanji took a deep shaky breath that he wasn't entirely sure was because of the cold. "Do you want to see me again?"

Zoro closed his eyes and shook his head slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yeah," he said softly. "I do."

"T-then it's settled." Sanji got up from the rock, shivering slightly. "Now, I'm g-going to go before I die b-because of the ice c-cube my body's t-trying to become."

"Whose fault is that?" Zoro said, but there was no venom to his words. He was grinning.

"Yours," Sanji snapped back. He walked shakily back towards his house, though he couldn't help but look back and see Zoro sitting there, staring up at the sun with a grin on his face. He was starting to see why people called fairies beautiful. Maybe the fairy tales weren't so far off.

* * *

"What did you do, fall into the lake?" demanded Zeff, drying Sanji's hair with a towel far more roughly than he should have been. "Didn't I warn you about that lake? Do we need to move now?"

"No," Sanji said quickly. He had just gotten Zoro to agree to hang out with him. There was no way he was backing out on that. He shook his head. "I was being careless, we don't need to move."

Zeff stared at him. "Are you okay, Eggplant?"

"Fine," Sanji said. "And could you be a bit more gentle? I'm trying not to go bald," he snapped.

Zeff chuckled and slapped him playfully with the towel. "Do it yourself if you're so concerned."

"I wil."

Sanji took the towel and grinned. Being alive had never felt more good. And plus, now he had Zoro to look forward to.

* * *

"What about Robin?"

"She's way older than you," said Zoro. "Is she a cougar or something? She's robbing you of your childhood innocence and all that. Older women are just trouble."

"You say that like you've been with an older woman," said Sanji rolling his eyes.

It wasn't written in a contract or anything like that, but Sanji had gotten into the habit of talking to Zoro about his dates and getting his opinions. As much as Sanji told himself he wasn't doing it because he wanted to find a girl he and the Marimo both approved of, he couldn't help but dump them when Zoro found fault in them. It could've just been because he hadn't ever noticed the way that maybe the way Nami-swan smiled was a bit too sinister, or that Valentine walked funny. Maybe he was being nit picky, but he swore all of his decisions to end his relationships were purely based off of his feeling of lacking spark. Zoro had no influence on him whatsoever. None at all.

"Just trust me, older women are trouble."

Well, now that he thought about it, Robin _was_ like a decade older than him … But that had nothing to do with what Zoro had said.

"Remind me again why I dumped Vivi?"

"She has a duck for a pet. That's cruelty towards animals."

"Cooking is cruelty to animals," Sanji pointed out.

"She has blue hair. Didn't you think that was a bit weird?"

"You have green hair."

Zoro said nothing.

Sanji was sitting on the grass while Zoro sat on the rocks. By being in the grass any chance of Sanji drowning was eliminated. He wasn't going to take anymore chances. Their conversations had become so long that eventually, Zoro's clothes dried on their own as they spoke. The blond stretched out his legs and sighed. "Hey Zoro … you wouldn't happen to be trying to find fault in these women just so I'll stay single, are you?"

"What makes you think that?"

"I don't peg you for being a picky person so all this judgement coming from you is kind of strange." Sanji sat up straighter. "Zoro … do you have a girlfriend?"

Zoro was silent for a moment. "No."

"So are you like the Scrooge of relationships? Since you can't be happy anymore, others can't be?"

"Bah humbug," said Zoro dryly.

"Very funny."

"I think I'm hilarious."

Sanji picked at the grass by his sides. "Why'd you break up?"

Zoro tensed. "We didn't."

"So why—"

"She died."

Sanji froze.

"I'm … I'm sorry."

"Can we talk about something else?"

Sanji nodded. He twirled the grass in between his fingers. "Do you know how to blow grass?"

"Blow grass?"

Sanji took a piece of grass and put it in front of him. He spread the grass slightly and blew softly, letting out a whistling sound. "Like that. Can you do that?"

"I tell you I want to talk about something else and you start showing me party tricks?"

"Why not?" Sanji held out a blade of grass. "Come on, you know you want to try it."

Zoro stared at it curiously and then plucked it from his hand. "How do you do it?"

"Okay, put the blade across the outside of your thumb," said Sanji. "Then you press the other thumb against the base of the first thumb so there should be a small pocket between your thumbs. You just have to blow into the pocket."

Sanji watched, amused, as Zoro tried to blow and nearly swallowed the blade of grass.

Sanji pinched his fingers and played a small tune with a grin. Zoro glared at him. "Your parents must be so proud."

"Not everyone can do it," Sanji said with a shrug. "Anyway why don't you talk about yourself? What's your family like?"

"I don't have a family."

"Friends?"

"No friends."

"Lie."

Zoro stared at him. "Whatever."

"I refuse to believe you have no friends, at least one person in this world has to like you." Sanji thought about it and tilted his head back. "You know, maybe you have tons of friends and don't know."

"How is that possible?"

"Maybe they think you're their friend, but you don't."

"Then we're not friends."

"What, do you need some kind of friendship binding ritual to officially become friends?"

"Maybe."

Sanji grinned and pulled a cigarette out of his pack. "Come here," he said, beckoning him forward with a finger.

"I'm scared," Zoro said cautiously, though he was obviously teasing.

"I don't bite, much. Come, sit next to me."

Zoro slowly got up from the rock he was sitting on and sat next to Sanji. Sanji then lit up his cigarette. "Turn to me," he told Zoro. Zoro, in confusion, turned to him. Sanji shoved the cigarette into Zoro's mouth.

Almost immediately Zoro started coughing. "What the fuck?" he said. He spat it out but Sanji held onto it.

Sanji put it back into Zoro's mouth against his protest. "Calm down, just breathe in slowly and then exhale." Sanji watched as Zoro tentatively smoked his first cigarette. It felt like a milestone of some kind, and Sanji was proud to be the first one to witness it.

"This tastes like ass," Zoro said gruffly. Once the cigarette was half done, Sanji took it away, much to Zoro's pleasure.

Sanji then put the cigarette in his own mouth.

Zoro stared at him.

Sanji finished the rest of the cigarette before grinning. "There. Now we're friends."

"What?"

"We've shared a cigarette together, something you'd only do with a friend," Sanji said with a shrug. To be honest, Sanji had never shared a cigarette in this manner ever before. He had lit another's cigarette for them, had his own lit by others, but never had he smoked the same cigarette as another. He told himself it was because he didn't think Zoro could handle a full cigarette, but something told him it was because he was now slightly giddy from he indirect kiss he and Zoro had shared, whether Zoro realized it or not.

"That's a shitty ritual," said Zoro. "And why the fuck do you like those things?"

"It's an acquired taste," Sanji said with a shrug.

"So … we're friends now?" Zoro said slowly.

Sanji turned to him. "Got a problem with that?"

Zoro turned his head away, a blush rising on his cheeks, the tips of his ear turning pink. "No."

"Good."

* * *

"They're really pretty."

Zoro stared at Sanji blankly.

"Your wings."

Zoro rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

"No, they are. I think they're beautiful. You should take better care of them."

Zoro was silent.

"Can I touch them?"

"What? No!"

"Oh come on, just one touch?"

Zoro backed away from Sanji.

Since their shared cigarette Zoro had taken to sitting next to Sanji by the shore as they spoke about everything from how the cloud in the sky looked like a tiger to debating over whether or not Zeff thought Sanji was insane at this point. Rarely ever did they talk about Zoro and Sanji supposed he was okay with that, if the green-haired man— fairy— didn't want to talk about himself, that was his business. Didn't mean he wasn't still curious.

"No," Zoro said more firmly.

"Come on, aren't we friends?"

"I see, that's how it is," Zoro said. Their banter had turned into much more playful swapping of witty comebacks and insults, which that if Sanji thought about them too hard, he was sure he would call it flirting and he wasn't sure how he was supposed to take that.

"Yes, I became friends with you because I'm a slut for your wings," Sanji said. "But really can I touch them? They look so fragile."

Zoro shook his head. "You shouldn't really do that."

"Why not?"

"It's a fairy custom thing," Zoro said. "You only let someone touch your wings if you trust them. A lot."

"You don't trust me?" Sanji had to admit he felt something in his stomach sink. He thought he and Zoro were closer than that. It had been about three months since they had been hanging out together and Sanji's life had already been put in Zoro's hands. He trusted him, perhaps more than he'd dare to admit.

"It's …" Zoro was silent for a moment.

They both fell into silence while Sanji smoked another cigarette. Seeing Zoro lay in the grass was weird. His wings and hair would blend into the ground and it would almost look like some kind of mystical painting a renaissance artist had made. Zoro sat up and turned his back to Sanji.

"Put out your cigarette."

"What?"

"Put out your cigarette, idiot," Zoro said. "I don't want the ashes to fall on them."

And Sanji realized this was Zoro's way of letting him touch him.

Sanji adjusted himself and moved closer to Zoro, almost pressing against his back but to do that would be to crush his wings. He reached his hand out to touch but stopped. The wings caught the morning sunlight beautifully, looking like sunlight streaming through a stain glass window. Zoro's wings were always the last thing to dry so there were still small droplets of water stuck on his wings, looking like tiny crystals.

"Are you going to touch, or not?" snapped Zoro.

Sanji slowly reached out once more, trying not to get distracted by the beauty of his fragile wings.

The wings felt much harder than Sanji imagined. They looked like silk, frail and delicate but they were made of something tougher, like a rough outer-shell protected them from getting hurt. He couldn't help his hands from tracing the curve of the wings and gently repeating the patterns.

Zoro shivered.

They were silent as Sanji's hand went down Zoro's spine. There was something so incredibly intimate about this act, something that Sanji couldn't put words to. He felt closer to Zoro in these moments than any girl he had ever been with.

"Satisfied?" asked Zoro after a few minutes of Sanji carefully touching his wings. He turned to see him, looking over his shoulder. He was so close, Sanji could see everything in those eyes of his. Those three piercings in Zoro's ear that he had become fond of chimed in the gentle breeze.

And then—

"Zoro, Mihawk wants to see you— What are you doing with a human?"

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2:** So ... favorite part? Please review! And do you know where exactly this is set? It's a real place. I know this is just so much fluff... It was a lot of fun, something to grin about?_


	2. The Human by the Rocks

_**Author's Note #1:**_ _So I don't own_ _ **One Piece**_ _. I also don't own a lot of things from this chapter. Mainly the way I made anatomy of mythical creatures work. I decided to update now since ... I don't know. I can't sleep. Anyway this chapter is slightly shorter than the other one, but hopefully you like it. It's in Zoro's perspective. It's not alternating perspective for this story though cause ... I couldn't exactly make it work that way. This is mainly just Sanji's perspective. Also, I came up with YET ANOTHER_ _ **One Piece**_ _story idea. For someone who said they were taking a break, I'm not taking much of one, am I?_

* * *

 _ **Sink or Swim**_  
 _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **Summary**

 **It wasn't his fault fairy tales painted fairies as being beautiful and majestic, full of grace and delicate fragility, swan-like and melodious. Looking at the man sitting at his kitchen table who was all brawn and no brains with bulging muscles and green hair, Sanji was pretty sure the fairy tales had mislead him.**

* * *

PART TWO: THE HUMAN BY THE ROCKS

* * *

 _Shit. Shit. Shitty fuckidy fuck fuck._

Zoro closed his eyes and tried not to let himself flinch when his wings picked up the faintest hint of wind from Sanji moving away from him.

He knew he shouldn't have gotten involved with a human.

But Sanji was so beautiful with blond hair that looked golden when the sun hit it just right and blue eyes that were deeper than any ocean. He could try as he might but there was just something about Sanji. It wasn't the allure of the forbidden, by no means. Rather it was more like time. It had been centuries since Zoro had been like this and eventually time had begun to lose all meaning. He couldn't tell the difference between old and new, young and elder, time just seemed to have stopped. Ever since her death he went through the motions with nothing to ever replace the feeling that was dulled in his chest.

He knew Sanji, perhaps more than the blond realized. Zoro had been there since the first day he and that old man had moved into the home. He watched Sanji grow, knew everything about the cigarette smoking man, including that the first time he had tried a cigarette, he had been so shocked by the taste he had accidentally dropped it into the lake. A lot of memories were made by the side of the lake, he liked to spend his time there. While he didn't need to hear it from Sanji about how he wasn't player and how he had many girlfriends due to the fact that his traditional view on love wasn't reciprocated by many women, there was something different about hearing it from him. Most of the conversations they had were memories about Sanji's childhood, memories Zoro had more or less been witness to but there was something personal about hearing it from Sanji. Sanji didn't have to tell him these things, they got along fine talking about pointless crap all the time but he opened up to him in a way he had only ever seen him do with the old man he lived with. Something was more intimate about the choice of telling and telling anyway. He probably sounded like a stalker.

He had known getting close to the blond was a bad idea. From the moment he had first spoken to him, had felt his skin underneath his hands, he knew he was screwed. That wasn't to say something stupid like he was in love with him, but there was something endearing of being able to introduce something new to someone else and watch and experience all of their firsts with them.

He was in trouble when he ate his stew.

He was stupid when he saved him.

He was screwed when they shared that cigarette.

He was going to fucking die for letting him touch his wings.

The annoying fairy with the pink hair stared at Sanji for a moment, before her face split into a wide grin. "You're cute!"

Sanji stared at her, looking more traumatized than when Zoro had first appeared in front of him in his grown form, or when he had nearly drowned. "T-thank you?" That cigarette was hanging very loosely between his lips now as he tried to take everything in. Suddenly, something switched in the cook's brain and Zoro knew this was bad.

The blond got off the grass from beside Zoro and walked over to Perona who was by the shore, her arms resting on the large rock that Zoro had sat on numerous times while talking with Sanji until he crossed over that small distance to be beside the man. Sanji bent down to her level and took her hand in his. Perona was small, she stood at five two and was delicate-looking. Of course Sanji would like her. He watched in disgust as Sanji kissed the back of her hand.

"I'm sorry, it was impolite of me not to ask your name. Would you do me the honour of telling me your name?"

Zoro wasn't kidding when he said that those cheesy lines must've made girls puke. He grinned. Sanji was in for a surprise.

 _SMACK!_

Perona dusted off her hands as a handprint embedded itself into Sanji's cheek and the blond backed away slightly, though he still had that idiotic, lovestruck look on his face.

Something Perona had said suddenly struck Zoro then. "What does Mihawk want?"

"I don't know, to fight," said Perona. "You think I understand men? Though it is good to see such a cute face after being stuck with you two uglies. Better hurry up though, you know how he gets when you make him wait."

Zoro rolled his eyes. "I've made him wait before, he should be used to it."

"You can't keep blowing him off you know," said Perona. "Eventually he'll track you down and those wings Blondie was fondling won't be there anymore."

Sanji turned beet red and shook his head furiously. "I wasn't—"

"Grow up," Zoro said, rolling his eyes. He pushed Sanji back from the rock, knowing if the idiot wasn't careful he would fall in again. "Tell Mihawk if he's waited this long, he can wait some more."

"You know you're not supposed to fraternize with humans."

"I'm not fraternizing," Zoro snapped. "Tell Mihawk he can suck my dick if he thinks he's going to get me to come and see him, the shitty bastard."

"Knowing him he'd like that," said Perona. "Look, just come with me just to shut him up, he's getting unbearable. He just stares at the coral all day and pets the stupid catfish like it's his child."

"Shanks hasn't come back recently?"

"They got into fight, it's another dry spell."

"What did they fight about this time?"

"Same things; Mihawk doesn't go out enough, Shanks travels too much. They're like a broken record."

Zoro sighed. He didn't really see a way out of this. He looked back at Sanji who was frantically looking between him and Perona, trying to put together anything, even the slightest sliver of what was going on. He realized that perhaps this was a bit much for Sanji to take in. And just like Sanji, when he didn't understand, he started to panic.

He started to chew fiercely on his cigarette, muttering under his breath questions, obscenities, anything. He was flicking ash and letting it blow in the wind. Sanji was probably going to explode soon, ask questions or at the very least, try to regain control of the situation that was quickly escaping his grasp.

"Oi, Marimo," snapped Sanji.

 _And here it comes._

"It's rude not to introduce a lady." Honestly, Sanji's old fashioned chivalrous attitude really annoyed him sometimes.

"Sanji, Perona. Perona, Sanji. Everyone nice and acquainted now?"

Almost immediately Sanji's eyes did that weird thing where they dilated and you could practically see hearts in them. "Oh, what a lovely name! Are you like fairy royalty?"

Perona blushed. She always liked compliments. Her fair pink wings were more delicate than Zoro's, but that was to be expected out of a female fairy rather than a male's. When it came to fighting the men took over. Zoro found it to be sexist, but he couldn't speak up about it, knowing what happened to the last person who defended women's rights. He felt his stomach sink, but he kept his composure.

Zoro turned to Sanji. "Look, I have to go. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"But—"

"Gonna miss me, cook?" He couldn't stand to see the slightly confused, frustrated and almost hurt look in Sanji's eyes so instead he teased him. It was better to have the cook pissed than sad.

"Shitty bastard, I'm gonna—"

"Save it for when I'm back. I've seen you practice your kicks. We'll spar when I return."

Sanji blinked in shock and Zoro smirked. It was good to see even the cook could be rendered speechless. He shoved Perona farther underwater, not that it really hurt her at all and then dove in himself, leaving a dumbfounded Sanji at the shore.

Zoro remembered when he first saw the underwater world. It had taken his breath away with its colourful corals and seaweed and various fauna. The fish, the clams, the starfish. And of course, the mythical creatures like the mermaids and the water nymphs.

 _"So that's your reason, huh?"_

Zoro shot a confused glance at Perona. Under the water speech did not exist, only thoughts. It was still weird to have someone penetrate his mind even after centuries of it. He rolled his eyes. _"What are you talking about?"_

 _"Mihawk's worried about you."_

 _"Yeah, right."_

 _"No, he is."_

Zoro sighed _. "What does he want?"_

 _"I don't know."_

 _"Not even the slightest idea?"_

 _"Nope."_

 _"Whatever. I'll deal with him."_

They swam in silence until she broke it. _"How old is he?"_

 _"Nineteen."_

 _"That's young. Didn't peg you for a pedophile."_

 _"He's legal,"_ Zoro refuted, though what he didn't know. After all, what kind of a future did he and Sanji have? So long as Sanji lived in that house, their strange friendship of sorts would work out. When he moved, Zoro would move on.

 _"You take too much after Mihawk."_

 _"Need I remind you that I am not related to Mihawk?"_ Zoro scoffed. _"At least I don't have a wine fetish."_

 _"You know what I mean. The fact that you were going out so often was weird. Figured your reason was some sort of human."_

Zoro didn't respond to that. The farther down they went the darker it got until he could see the palaces and homes of others. The lake's bottom was rather murky and yet it was clear with Zoro's heightened sense of vision. He instead busied himself with a school of fish so he wouldn't have to deal with Perona's nagging. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered what Sanji would think of this place. Knowing the cook, he'd probably see everything as something he could grill and yet something else told him that Sanji would be just as awestruck as Zoro had been his first time in the water.

 _"Do you miss it?"_

The question was timid, like Perona wasn't sure if she should ask it. She rarely ever sounded so small, being such a loud and energetic girl. She turned to Zoro and he met her gaze.

 _"No."_

 _"Liar."_

 _"I'm not lying."_ Zoro paused. _"I really don't miss it. I can't miss it. I don't … "_ Zoro felt a lump in his throat. _"I hardly even remember it."_

 _"Do you regret it?"_

Zoro stared at her, wide eyed. This was more vulnerable than Zoro had ever seen her, suddenly asking him such questions. Zoro was silent, thinking about his answer before he would project it to her. Finally, he answered. _"No. Not once."_

Perona gave him a smile that was softer than her usual and the rest of the trip down to Mihawk's palace was in silence.

Whenever Zoro stood in front of the Kuraigana castle, he always felt small. It was part of the reason he rarely left. The doors were so big and the place was so daunting, overshadowing him by much and of course the one who sat inside of the palace was a piece of work so of course he was a bit touchy. It wasn't that Zoro was scared of Mihawk, no he respected the man, but still there was only so much gloom he could take.

The doors opened on their own and Zoro stood his ground so that the ripples the large doors caused would not blow him away. There was a sort of rivalry between Zoro and the owner of the house, in which he did things like this, standing his ground with no opponent because he felt as though he had to, in order to appear stronger to others who may stand at Mihawk's door.

 _"Come in."_

Zoro and Perona walked in and in the living room with its almost stone-like tables and dark furniture there was the man himself sitting in the largest chair. He always did need to dominate the room.

In a palace with no water, words would be said, seeing as the building had been painstakingly made so that speech would occur. Words always sounded softer when spoken through thought. Perona, who usually sounded giggly and girly in speech would sound much softer and gentler in her thoughts, even if Zoro knew her true colours. Zoro would sound more relaxed, less emotion came through in thoughts, though to be honest, Zoro was pretty sure Mihawk just enjoyed the sound of his own voice.

"I don't like waiting, Roronoa."

Zoro rolled his eyes.

"How old are you?"

Zoro scoffed. "You've been looking after me for years, how do you not know my age?"

"Answer the question."

Zoro thought about it. If he had to estimate … "Around three hundred."

"Time to test what you know." Mihawk got that sly grin on his face he always got when he was about to torture someone. "Tell me about fairies and the laws of the folk."

Zoro gave Mihawk a strange look. "Why?"

"Do it."

Zoro sighed. "One can only become a fairy under circumstances such as being born of fairy parents, but there are exceptions to this clause." Zoro shivered at the memory. "A fairy's wings are highly sensitive and are used to help distinguish them from other fairies. No two fairies have the same wings. The wings are a symbol of honour and are not to be taken lightly, should never be touched by others except by intimates." Here, he couldn't help the blush that started to surface on his cheeks. "When a fairy reaches the age of maturity, which is between one hundred fifty and two hundred years, they are to—" Zoro froze.

"They are to?" Mihawk pressed.

Zoro gulped. "When a fairy reaches the age of maturity, they are to be wed."

"Exactly."

"But—"

"The laws are the laws, there is a reason why the Counsel took it upon themselves to implement it. You know fairies are in danger of extinction." Mihawk's critical eyes went up and down Zoro's body. "While I may not see you as one of my own, the Counsel recognizes you as one. A half-breed, but a fairy none-the-less."

This was a big deal. The Counsel only recognized fairies born of fairy blood, more often than not and though the race was on the verge of extinction, they still believed pure-bred to be better than any hybrids. Each fairy wore a piece of identification, Zoro knew. She had worn one. It changed depending on the person, but it was usually some sort of bracelet with an ID number.

"Seeing as the race is in dire need of more young ones, they decided to accept you into the race. Officially." Mihawk held out a green bracelet with a silver identifier on it. The fact that Mihawk, someone who had never accepted Zoro before, was the one giving it to him meant something significant but Zoro couldn't get over the horrible feeling in his gut. Of course, he could deal with being told he had to get married. But knowing Mihawk as he did, he wouldn't just call him to tell him to get laid.

Zoro took the bracelet gingerly in his hand and stared at it. ID #: ZRO70102221.

"Aren't fairies supposed to mate for life?" Zoro said.

"That is the tradition, yes," said Mihawk. "Don't think that just because you were technically married once means you will not be forced to submit to this law."

Zoro wanted Perona to look away. She was still just sitting there, watching this entire exchange without speaking and while Zoro knew that if he told her to leave, she wouldn't, having her see this, especially after seeing Sanji was just awful. She was looking at him with pitiful eyes.

"Why am I here?" asked Zoro finally. "Did you just want to give me a fancy trinket?"

"Being accepted by the Counsel, considering your blood, is nothing short of a miracle and a great honour." Of course Mihawk was like this. Zoro lived with the man along with the pink fairy, but unlike him, he and Perona did not have the same type of bloodline as he did. Mihawk was one of the rulers of the sea, making him someone of great power. It was the only reason why Zoro hadn't been kicked out a long time ago. The man swore he hated his guts, but then after about fifty years or so, there was no reason for Zoro to still be around. He was surprisingly hospitable, despite the way he always acted. "Do not dismiss it as anything less."

"There's something else, isn't there?" Zoro said.

"Yes." Mihawk faltered for a moment, closing his eyes and breathing deeply before he spoke again. "I have chosen your wife."

"Fuck no!"

"Zoro," said Perona softly.

"I believe she would be a good match for you, she is of your approximate rank, of course, not lower than you." Zoro knew immediately what that implied. _No one can be lower than you_.

"I refuse."

"You're in no position to do such a thing. The Counsel has finally approved of you; if you sully your name any more, you will begin affecting me." Mihawk leaned forward in his chair, his cat-like eyes narrowing on Zoro. "Unless, of course, you have someone else in mind?"

Zoro stared. "What?"

"If you have another person whom you wish to pursue, perhaps I would consider it. If, of course, I approve of them."

Zoro gulped.

"Do you have anyone in mind?"

A flash of blond hair and blue eyes blinded Zoro for a moment.

"No."

"Then you are to meet her later today."

Zoro nodded, his jaw tightly locked. He bowed before the master of the house before walking up the large stairwell. Anyone who knew him could tell his steps were not as calm as they appeared. They were brimming with barely concealed rage and frustration.

He could hear them as he left. Sound echoed. The mind was a much more private place.

"He's going for them." That was Perona.

"Let him."

"You know he does reckless things when he gets like this."

"Serves him right."

Zoro jumped out the window of the mansion, landing on his feet. His three swords were now attached to his _haramaki_. Others talked about him as he walked on the lake floor, they always did. They noticed the bracelet, but they could also tell he was angry. Fairies were very good at intruding on your thoughts; there was no such thing as privacy. If the wandering man wanted to read his mind while he was storming off, he could. Everyone knew Zoro. He was infamous.

He couldn't help smirking. He owed the cook a sparring match.

Anyone who saw that smirk of his could tell exactly what he was thinking. It was a mixture of anger, frustration and sadness.

* * *

When Zoro resurfaced, he found that Sanji was by the lake once again, almost in the exact same place he had been before.

"Don't you have anything better to do?"

Sanji leaned back slightly at Zoro's sharp tone. "Cooks decided to go away for a bit, didn't I tell you? They won't be back for the rest of the month."

Zoro nodded and hoisted himself up on the rocks. His swords brushed against the rock making a scratching sound. Sanji's eyes widened when he saw them. "I said we'd spar, didn't I?"

"I was totally right," said Sanji.

"Right about what?"

"You really _are_ the missing samurai from the Feudal era."

Zoro couldn't help it. As upset as he was, he had to crack a smile at that comment. It was just so Sanji. He didn't react the way Zoro had expected a human who found out about fairies would. Rather he embraced the world wholeheartedly with a curious and open mind.

Zoro walked onto the grass, feeling it tickle the soles of his feet. "Let's see what you've got."

Sanji grinned. "Sure you can handle it?"

This was nice. Sanji had always been something farther from him, a world he couldn't quite reach, a world he could not truly remember, something he could reach for but couldn't fully see. He had thought he had known everything about humans but Sanji was becoming more and more unpredictable as he kept talking with Zoro. Now Sanji was just within reach, he was able to touch him, to slap him in the shoulder, to have his wings brush against him, to let Sanji touch him. A clean slate, someone who knew nothing about his past. Zoro hadn't realized how much he had needed one until now.

"You have no idea what I'm capable of."

Zoro pulled out his three swords. He missed this feeling, the feeling of fighting. But like riding a bike, despite the fact that his last true fight was at least fifty years ago, his hands hummed with excitement and energy. He knew exactly what he had to do. Placing hers in his mouth, he readied himself.

Sanji didn't question him, he only looked impressed. He didn't question why Zoro was risking harming his wings with this position despite the fact that he was the one always nagging him about taking better care of them, he nearly smirked, the way he did when he saw an upcoming challenge.

Zoro didn't know who moved first.

One moment they were a good few feet away from each other and then steel met polished boot and they were both skidding back from the impact. He grinned. He should've known Sanji would never lay down flat.

He slashed forward but Sanji jumped back.

Zoro lunged to swipe at his legs but Sanji kicked him in the face and he recoiled.

He tried to upset his balance, but instead Sanji twisted his leg around his own and gave a harsh pull, forcing Zoro to go tumbling to the ground.

Zoro pushed back against him, using his hilt to gut Sanji in the stomach. The cook stepped back, slightly winded but before Zoro could properly attack, he had recovered and was sending a roundhouse kick at him. He tried to avoid it, but it got him.

Okay, maybe he was a bit rusty.

Zoro made a clean cut at Sanji's midsection but the blond jumped back quickly and raised his leg to strike Zoro in the head. Zoro read his movements and got up in his space, placing himself exactly where Sanji wanted him, before capturing his leg between two of his swords.

Sanji grinned, sweat beginning to fall down his brow. "Impressive." He then launched himself upwards and flipped out of Zoro's grasp, forcing his swords to fall at his sides. "But not quite enough."

They stared at each other again, volumes being spoken without words.

Then Sanji attacked. He jumped up and aimed at Zoro's neck, but Zoro's wings caught the movements and wrapped around Sanji, pulling him close to him until their chests struck together. They were both breathing harshly. There was a bit of space, enough so that Zoro could not strike Sanji with his blade, but just barely.

"Let me go."

"Scared?"

"No." There were no lies in his eyes. "You'll hurt yourself."

And then Zoro was aware of the fact that his sword was dangerously close to cutting off his own wings. He pushed Sanji back and his wings went back to their resting position of sticking out of his body almost like extra arms.

They stood there in silence for a few moments, Zoro's mind racing, Sanji trying to catch his breath until Sanji took a deep breath and sighed.

"Bitch."

Zoro glared. "Asshole."

Sanji laughed, his head tilting back, his neck exposed so gloriously, small drips of sweat making his skin glow. "I wasn't calling you a bitch, though you are," Sanji said. "I meant bitch, like complain."

Zoro stared at him.

"You're upset, right?"

"… No I'm not."

"You hesitated."

"No I didn't."

"You did."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too!"

Zoro threw his hands up in the air. "And if I did?"

"Then you really need to bitch more than I thought." Sanji sat himself down on the grass and crossed his sinfully long legs. "If you don't, then you won't ever be able to relax."

"How do you figure? If I've got problems, they're all my own." Zoro scoffed. "Besides, not like you'd understand them anyway."

"Try me."

"You don't want me to." Zoro sat down in the grass and tilted his head up to the sky. "Trust me on this."

"Fairy thing?"

Zoro nodded. "Just something the old man said …"

"I thought you said you had no family." Sanji's brow furrowed in confusion in an adorable way that made Zoro rather tempted to smooth it out with his own fingers. He shook his head. Going down that path was stupid.

"I don't."

"Then old man—?"

"Old-man-in-law, I guess."

"You're _married_?"

"Was."

Sanji seemed to put two and two together and fell silent. Zoro enjoyed silence, there was always something about it that just made him feel better, no more noise, no more sound, no more busy thoughts. It was relaxing and being above water meant no one could intrude on his own thoughts so it was private. And yet he didn't mind sharing his silence with Sanji. In fact, he might say he preferred it that way.

"What did the old-man-in-law say?" asked Sanji quietly. "If you still want to talk about it. I'm not a fairy so I might not understand, but I can try."

Zoro sat up and pulled his knees close to his chest. He watched a bird fly above his head. _It's so free._ And then he heard the unmistakable sound of the bird hitting the trunk of a tree _. And so stupid._ "You sure you really want to know?"

"I'm your friend, you're supposed to bitch to me."

Zoro took a deep breath and began. "According to fairy custom, once a fairy reaches maturity, they are bound by certain laws of the Counsel."

"The Counsel?"

"Imagine what you people call government." Zoro stretched out his arm to Sanji. "This is an ID bracelet. When you reach maturity, your parents take you to the Counsel and they officially recognize you as a fairy, add you to the population count, stuff like that."

"Like getting a driver's licence?"

"I guess." Zoro shielded his eyes from the sun and leaned back. The grass felt weird underneath his wings but being closer to Sanji made it worth it. Mostly. He readjusted himself a few times until he felt a bit more comfortable and nothing was poking into his back. "Anyway, fairies live a lot longer than humans. Average lifespan's about … a millennia I think." He didn't miss Sanji's gasp of surprise. "Would you believe me if I told you Perona's older than me?"

"That girl? But she's so small!"

"Yeah, and she saw the end of that Feudal Japan you're so obsessed about. She's not old though." Zoro paused to think. "I think she's … twenty-three in human terms? Aside from the wings when we're in our 'big' form, our biology is just about the same as the average human's. We age slowly."

He turned his head to the side, the uncomfortable feeling of grass tickling his nose made him irritable but Sanji was rapt in attention, not asking anymore questions, just focusing on every one of Zoro's words. It felt good to have someone listen.

"Anyway a fairy's maturity is reached at about … hundred seventy-five as an average I guess." Zoro held the bracelet up to the sunlight, reading the numbers once more. "They're over a century late."

Sanji choked on thin air. "How old are you?"

Zoro did some quick mental math. "'bout three hundred and nine."

"You look good for your age," was all Sanji managed to say in his surprise.

Zoro gave him a cocky grin. "You wish you could look this hot." Sanji gave him a gentle shove and Zoro laughed. "I'm not …I'm not supposed to exist."

The confusion in Sanji's eyes was obvious.

"It's hard to explain, but to put things simply, my old-man-in-law should've killed me. Nearly did and that was before the ceremony." He laughed, but there was no humour in his voice. He gulped, feeling a lump in his throat. "Fairies commit for life. And let's just say that once you're married, the honeymoon phase lasts at least a century or two. Since fairies are close to extinction and females are most fertile before they hit the five hundreds, a law was made." He covered his eyes from the sun, his bracelet catching the sunlight and nearly blinding him anyway. "Once a fairy is of maturity, they have until they're two hundred to find a mate. If they cannot, one will be chosen for them." Zoro sighed, covering his face with his hands. "I've been married before." Zoro was silent. It hurt to remember, but what hurt more was that it was hard for him to remember at this point. All of his memories blended together and now he couldn't tell the exact date she died, or how long they had had together. He just knew that one day he woke up and something was missing from him.

Sanji was silent as Zoro groaned. He used his arm to hide his face, scared he might start crying, something he had not done since her death. His other arm fell limply at his side. The cook watched him in silence until, tentatively, he wrapped their fingers together.

Zoro glanced towards their intertwined fingers and realized this was it. He was at the point of no return. He had forgotten warmth and Sanji's hand was so smooth and yet there were tiny calluses and he was so comforting and he just smelt so nice, like spices and the seasons and faintly of nicotine.

"Don't finish if you don't want to," Sanji said softly. "I shouldn't have pressed. It's rude to ask something like that." He bit his lip and Zoro swore it was criminal. "You can stop now, I was too insistent and I don't want to bring up back memories—"

"I'm getting married."

Sanji stared at him.

Zoro couldn't formulate words. He didn't know what he was expecting. Sanji to feel sad? To be hurt? This was why Zoro shouldn't have gone near humans; fairies commit for eternities, compared to that, humans commit for seconds. And he knew Sanji liked women, even if Sanji did have a whole thing about loving the idea of that one perfect someone, what delusional part of Zoro's mind had thought that person could be him? Love was never in the equation for him, it never had been. He rarely ever fell in love. He could now attest it happened twice. And twice, it was a bad decision. Because when Zoro fell, he fell hard. There would be no getting over this.

They sat in silence, Sanji completely oblivious to Zoro's epiphany.

Finally, Sanji spoke. "But you already—"

"Doesn't matter, because of what I am certain rules can be bent."

Sanji nodded slowly, processing. "Who is she?"

"Dunno."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Sanji asked. Zoro knew that this was expected of Sanji the romantic. He couldn't fathom the idea of falling in love with no previous attempts at love before marriage. He was a fairy tale prince, romantic, believing in true love. Too bad he wasn't written into Zoro's book. "That's a violation of your rights!"

Zoro sat up, making sure to keep their fingers intertwined. He wasn't sure if Sanji knew it, but he was rubbing his thumb in circles against Zoro's wrist and it felt heavenly. In case he didn't know, Zoro didn't want to point it out in case he stopped. "Tell that to the old-man-in-law."

"Do you think you can love her?"

"Dunno."

"This is so wrong on so many levels …"

"Don't I know it."

And then Sanji surprised him. He leaned onto Zoro's shoulder, as though the thought of Zoro's impending marriage was too much for him to handle and he just had to rest his head. It fit so perfectly it nearly killed him. Zoro's grip on Sanji tightened.

"That isn't fair to you."

"Life isn't fair."

"Is there any way out?"

Zoro bit his lip. Should he tell Sanji? He had already spilled his guts plenty. What was one more? "Yeah. One way." He squeezed his eyes shut. Was he really doing this? "If the one being forced to marry has someone else they plan to marry, then yeah. I could get out of it."

"Why not marry Perona?"

"She's married. Kumashi's his name I think."

"All the good ones are taken," Sanji said with a sigh. "What's her name?"

"Kami? Something like that."

"Hey Zoro …" Sanji's voice was softer now, quiet like. "What does that mean for us?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean … doesn't that affect us? When you get married, what's going to happen to this?"

"Nothing," said Zoro. _Nothing will come out of it, nothing will change_. "Why?"

"No reason."

He was blushing. Zoro swore, he would've kissed him then and there, all consequences be damned, had it not been for the simple fact of what it meant to be married.

"So … you're getting married …" Sanji bit his lip and they sat in silence.

"Yeah."

"So … should I give you something blue now?"

"What?"

" _Something old, something new, something borrowed something blue._ You know, for when people get married?"

Zoro rolled his eyes. "You can forgo all that. I'm still getting over my last wedding gift from the old-man-in-law."

"What was it?"

"Do you remember that scar?"

"Oh shit …"

"Yeah."

"I take it he didn't like you?"

"No one really does." Zoro shrugged. "I'm used to it."

"I like you."

 _Not the way I like you._ " _Besides_ you. And I think you're crazy anyway."

The rest of the conversation just flowed naturally between the two men until it was time for Zoro to convince Sanji that he really did need sleep. As he watched the blond walk away, despite the fact that he knew they were so far apart and yet so close, it had never really struck him till now.

* * *

There was a girl in the house when he got back from his visit with Sanji. She was lying on the couch with her legs woven in a way that could not be comfortable as she slept.

 _What the fuck?_

Zoro knelt down beside her and poked her gently in the shoulder. She didn't budge. Not at all. And people called him a heavy sleeper. He laid his swords down next to him and stared. She was pretty, he supposed. She had green hair and fair skin.

Suddenly she jolted awake. Zoro grabbed his swords on instinct and they both screamed.

"DON'T KILL ME!"

"DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT!"

The girl's eyes were large and brown and innocent. And apparently she was a bit dim that she suddenly started screaming the moment she saw his swords again. "Don't cut me into pieces, I'm really young, I'm barely even a hundred!"

Zoro blinked and something clicked in his head. "Are you … Kimi?"

"It's Keimi."

"Shit, I'm sorry."

"Zoro, right? Sorry, that was my bad," said Keimi. "I was just surprised."

"Sorry for surprising you then." Zoro scratched his neck awkwardly. "No harm done. I guess Mihawk didn't mention I'm a swords-fairy?" The words sounded wrong on his tongue. Just … no. It didn't make sense.

"You're all wet."

"Yeah, just came back from the shore."

Keimi stared at him. "You must be really brave."

"The only ones who live up there is this blond guy and his dad." Zoro took off his shirt only to hear Keimi squeal in surprise. "Sorry." He awkwardly bunched it up in his hands. "I'll just change real quick."

When he came back down the girl was more composed, sitting upright and adjusting her skirt.

Zoro sat down across from her and they both fell into an awkward silence. It was tangible and was very close to strangling him.

"Look, you seem like a nice girl and all, but if you're really as old as you claim then there's no reason for you to be getting married," said Zoro. He leaned forward and stared just a bit closer at her. "You're not a fairy, are you?"

"No …" she said quietly. "I thought he told you."

"That old bastard tells me shit," Zoro snapped. She recoiled from him slightly. "Sorry. Um … look, the thing is …"

"Are you trying to let me down gently?" asked Keimi.

Zoro winced. "I wouldn't put it that way—"

"Are you?"

"Yeah. Kinda. Maybe."

She laughed and her laughter was a nice, pleasant sound that reminded Zoro of wind chimes. "It's okay, I don't really know what my father's thinking, trying to get me married. I mean I have my whole life to live!"

"Yeah," said Zoro.

"You're not going to ask me what I am?"

"Huh?"

"You know I'm not a fairy, don't you want to know what I am?" Keimi wasn't mocking him or anything, in fact, her voice was timid, almost as though she was scared of him.

"I don't think it's that important. I mean, you're a nice girl and all but I have no plans to marry you and from the sounds of it, you don't want to marry me either, so I fail to see how your race comes into play here. I don't need to know."

"Do you have a back-up plan?"

"Back-up?"

"I mean since you won't marry me. I'm fine, if I just suck up to my father he'll let me go and we won't have to talk about it for a generation, but what about you?"

Zoro shrugged. "I'll just deal with it."

Keimi was silent for a moment before she spoke up. "You love someone, don't you?"

Zoro shook his head. "Nah, don't be ridiculous." She gave him a pointed look, her innocent eyes practically prying it out of him. "Okay fine, yeah. Is it that obvious?"

"My kind have a knack for this kind of thing, so no, not to most. So why don't you marry her?"

"Can't." Zoro groaned, leaning back in his seat. "It's complicated, but it's not exactly love of the requited kind." _That and she's not a she._

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I think I've spilled enough of my guts to you now. Don't you think you should get going?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Zoro lead her to the door. "It was nice meeting you Keimi." Surprisingly, he found himself meaning it. "Maybe I'll see you around."

"Yeah. Maybe. It was nice meeting you too, Zoro. And good luck."

Then she stood on the tips of her toes and kissed him softly on the cheek. Into the shell of his ear, she whispered, "mermaid" before leaving.

Zoro shut the door behind her and paused for a moment.

Wait. _Mermaid_?

He pulled the door open again in surprise just in time to see her swimming away but instead of legs, he saw a cream coloured tail.

* * *

Perona was in his room.

Why the fuck was Perona in his room? Zoro sat up straighter on his bed and glared at her. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here, can't I just … exist here? Horohorohoro."

"Don't you have a husband to make-out with, or cute things to strangle?" That was a pointless question: her husband had been away on a business trip for the past few years and nothing cute within a five meter radius would let Perona touch them. A survival tactic for sure.

He expected some kind of biting comeback as she always provided, or for her to call him a meanie, but neither happened. Instead she traced a pattern on his floor with her foot before speaking. "So … you kicked her out."

"I did not kick her out, I walked her to the door."

"You still kicked her out."

"There was no chemistry," Zoro said with a shrug. "Besides it was mutual."

"Mihawk's going to be angry."

"Tough shit."

They fell into silence until Perona spoke.

"He's dangerous."

They both knew who _he_ was.

"I know."

"You're going to get burned."

"Too late."

Perona looked at him with worried eyes. "I actually worry about you, you know. Not that you care or anything. And I know you were thinking of saying his name when Mihawk asked if there was anyone else."

Zoro scowled.

"I think you should've told him."

"Why?" Zoro put his arms behind his head and stared at the dull ceiling. "Nothing would come out of it."

"I think something would."

Zoro laughed bitterly. "Right."

"No, I'm serious. I think he might actually fall in love with you."

"Perona," said Zoro softly in a quiet voice. "Sanji can't swim."

"So? Doesn't mean you can't teach him."

"He nearly drowned in the lake a few months ago."

"Oh."

He could tell she was starting to understand now. "See what I mean?"

"But you never know—"

"Perona, you know what it takes for humans and fairies to get married." Zoro bit the inside of his cheek in distaste. "Sanji has a life, and it doesn't matter if he trusts me with his life or not, or whether he'd be okay with leaving everyone behind, which I know he wouldn't be. It doesn't matter how much I might be willing to drown for him, he would never drown for me."

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2**_ _: Now first, before the thank-yous, another disclaimer that I will admit to now because to admit to it sooner would've spoiled things. The way Keimi works (because I know in the anime she always has a tail) is the same way_ _ **H2O Just Add Water**_ _works. For those of you who never saw that show, it's basically girls who can turn into mermaids when they get wet. The number on Zoro's bracelet are actually references to_ _ **One Piece**_ _. the 7 is for the days it takes till he takes a bath (one a week, if you check miscellaneous for Straw Hats, it's there), the 0102 is because the numbers associated with Zoro are 1 and 2, and lastly, the 21, a nod towards his age after the time-skip. Zoro's age itself, which is 309, is a reference to, if this story takes place in our year (2016), then Zoro has been around since the pirate era, which was from approximately 1650 until 1726. Finally, this whole idea that in order to get married to a fairy while being a human is from an idea of Poisoned Scarlett. It was really good and I had to do it, okay? I don't claim ownership over that at all._

 _Okay now the thank-yous!_

 _July's fantasies_ _: this is not a YouTube channel, but I am glad you would subscribe if you could. I hope this was as good as the last chapter._

 _veryfineautumn4869 (x2):_ _I have no frigging idea how you ddi this, but you managed to review twice to the same chapter. I didn't even know that was possible. Clearly you're dying a lot. Maybe I just killed you some more with this cliff-hanger._

 _Meganehason ZOSAN-LAWLU LOVER_ _: The whole point of cliffhangers is to keep you hanging and wanting for more, so I guess I did a good job._

 _Okay, now this story is set in an alternate-looking place known as Hokkaido Japan. There is a lake there called Akan lake where there are said to be fairies. Akan Lake is the only place in the ENTIRE WORLD where marimo grow naturally. And if Zoro were Japanese and were to live in Japan, he would come from Hokkaido._

 _Please review! I will admit I started to ship Keimi and Zoro for a split second while writing this. I like long reviews! I have a question for you: can you piece together Zoro's past? I played around a bit about genetics and children..._


	3. Loose Lips Sink Ships

_**Author's Note #1:**_ _So I don't own_ _ **One Piece**_ _. Been watching WAY too much_ _ **Doctor Who,**_ _considering writing a Jack and 10th Doctor story. I know I mentioned it before, but dear God if Rose's departure didn't kill me, nothing did. And then of course the whole thing with Martha was kinda annoying since she didn't have any drive except to be with the doctor. And on top of that ... **Human Nature,** that episode ... "He won't love you," and she was all, "if he's not you, I don't want him to" and I'm just like, "LOVE HIM ANYWAY! BECAUSE HE'S DAVID TENNANT AND HE'S ENDEARING AND EVERYONE SHOULD LOVE HIM!" And if you hadn't read **one, two, three** you don't know, but now you'll know I'm a HUGE fan of Captain Jack Harkness. Him and the Doctor ... One of the greatest scenes I saw was the one where he kissed him. So disappointed he didn't kiss David Tennant ... Also, going to an anime expo, gonna get myself some merch on Sunday!_

* * *

 _ **Sink or Swim**_  
 _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **Summary**

 **It wasn't his fault fairy tales painted fairies as being beautiful and majestic, full of grace and delicate fragility, swan-like and melodious. Looking at the man sitting at his kitchen table who was all brawn and no brains with bulging muscles and green hair, Sanji was pretty sure the fairy tales had mislead him.**

* * *

PART THREE: LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS

* * *

It had been two weeks.

 _Fucking bastard said nothing was going to change, the liar. Bet he's probably fucking his new wife or whatever._

Sanji stared into the lake and frowned. "Don't make me drown myself again, Marimo!" He stared at the pool of water in front of him, crouching. He knew this was dangerous; one misstep and he would fall in and he couldn't guarantee he'd be saved again by the moss-head. "You said you'd come," Sanji reminded him.

Suddenly there was a flicker of something below the surface. Sanji leaned closer, trying to get a better look at it when he felt hands on his shoulders. He was pushed backwards and he fell down on his butt.

"About fucking time you showed up,— you're not Zoro."

The pink fairy frowned at him. "No, why would I ever want to be someone as un-cute as him?"

Sanji decided not to say anything about that. But Zoro could be cute sometimes in his own, strange way. For a moment, Sanji feared he had forgotten the pink princess' name. "Perona, right?"

"You're disappointed," she said pointedly, crossing her arms.

"No, why would I be disappointed to see such a lovely face?" asked Sanji, giving her a broad grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Why don't you leave your pesky husband and run away with me? I'd take better care of you and your wings, unlike that Zoro bastard who does nothing but ruins his—"

"Zoro can't come to the surface."

Sanji stared. "What?"

"He got in trouble with Mihawk— his guardian," Perona clarified. "He … Zoro refused his marriage arrangement and well … Mihawk's going off about how he should be honoured that he was even considered, given his age and how he's used up. Are women still shamed if they've slept with someone before their first marriage?"

"No," said Sanji slowly. "Why?"

"In the fairy world, being married and getting separated, for whatever reason, is like … a crime against fairy law. To think of getting married after you've already committed yourself to another is like blasphemy. No, it _is_ blasphemy. Basically, Zoro's a slut."

"But … But he couldn't control—"

"The Counsel doesn't care about that."

"Pardon my language, but fuck the Counsel!" Sanji grit his teeth angrily. "So what happens to him now? He just gets tossed aside?" His fists clenched at the thought. Maybe Zoro thought little of their friendship and couldn't be bothered to even warn Sanji that something like this would happen, but Sanji had come to care for the moss head.

"You're really worked up about this, aren't you?"

"Well yeah!" Sanji snapped. "It's a matter of lack of free will! He's … He's basically a prisoner to the laws of your dumb-ass Counsel!" Sanji kicked a rock and frowned. "He said nothing would change …"

Perona stared at him, something sympathetic in her gaze. "I'm sure Zoro will see you, he's not a fan of the rules, he'll slip away eventually."

"It's not that he's gone," said Sanji, though that was the bulk of it, "it's that he didn't even tell me it could happen."

"You really care about him, don't you?"

"He's a friend." Sanji shrugged. "Why wouldn't I care?"

The fairy came closer, settling on the rocks. She shook out her wings and they gleamed in the sunlight. Looking like blown glass, fragile and beautiful Sanji couldn't ignore their beauty. "You take good care of them."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Dunno, Zoro doesn't seem to care about his."

Perona shifted and nodded. "Yeah …"

Sanji's head shot up and he stared at her a little more harshly, which was a strange thing for him to do and he wasn't used to looking at a woman with such scrutiny. "You know something."

"I know many things," said Perona casually.

"You know something about Zoro that you're not telling me!"

"When you're with a moron for a couple of centuries, you pick up a couple of things."

"Tell me," Sanji said, leaning closer. This was scary. Water looked harmless but he knew that the moment he fell in he'd be surrounded by cold and there would be no one to pull him up this time around.

"Why do you want to know?"

"He's my friend—"

"That's your excuse. I have plenty of friends, doesn't mean I know everything about them, doesn't mean I want to know everything about them."

"I'm worried about him," said Sanji softly.

"Why do you care?"

Sanji knew this was not a question he could reply to as easily. He knew if he said "because he's my friend" she wouldn't accept it. She was looking from some sort of answer from him, trying to pull it out of him but he didn't know what it was she wanted. He searched his mind, digging deep inside, trying to find it. "I care … I care because he's important to me." It was whispered. Sanji had seen TV and thought it was stupid when people came to realize something that was so obvious to everyone else, hated the way they slowly pieced everything together because it didn't make sense, it didn't work like that in real life but right now he felt it. The words came tumbling out and he didn't bother to check with Perona if he was saying what she wanted to hear, he just said what he felt he had to, what his mind wanted him to say. "He … he's a pain in the ass, a knucklehead who doesn't know how to interact with anyone. But … I mean he's _Zoro_ , isn't he? A strange combination of mixed parts and odd ends. He's weird as fuck but … I like him that way. I care about him because … I like spending time with him. He makes me laugh, he worried for me when I fell in. He likes my cooking and I like giving him food. He … he makes me happy."

Perona smiled. "Told him so."

"What?"

"Oh nothing."

Sanji shook his head and turned up towards the sky. "Whatever, just … keep me posted, okay?"

"You don't want to know anymore?"

"Nah," Sanji said with a shrug. "It's his business, he can tell me when he wants to."

Perona gazed at Sanji in shock and grinned widely. "Sit."

"What?"

"Sit down, I'm going to tell you."

"I thought I just said I didn't want to know," said Sanji.

"That's why I want to tell you."

Sanji blinked. "I must've missed something here, let me see if I've got this right. Because I wanted to know about Zoro, you wouldn't tell me, but now that I've decided to respect his privacy and wait until he tells me, you're going to tell me?"

Perona nodded.

"That's screwed up."

"Are you rejecting the information?"

"Yeah, I am. Because you make no sense and it's weird," Sanji said. Girls were confusing, at least he somewhat understood Zoro. He stood up from the rocks and was about to walk away when Perona grabbed his arm.

"I'm not letting you leave," she said. "Zoro … he needs someone."

Sanji's mouth opened to retort. Say anything really, about how she should just help Zoro if she's so concerned, or maybe that he's only known Zoro a couple of months and what does that compare to knowing him several centuries? But he couldn't say either because she was a woman and for another, he couldn't bring himself to stop her. Because he knew he should let Zoro tell him in his own time but if Zoro couldn't resurface and he kept avoiding him like this then Zoro may never tell him. Curiosity killed the cat.

Sanji sat back down and was silent, waiting.

"You can see us. It's a bit complicated, but there's a reason for that." Perona paused for a moment as though trying to figure out what it was exactly that she should say. "When you're born, you have a soulmate. I guess that's the proper term for it here. That doesn't mean you can't marry someone else, some people never find theirs. If your soulmate happens to be human, then that human can see fairies, otherwise how would you ever meet your soulmate? The cards aren't stacked in your favour the moment that happens, but that doesn't mean it's impossible for them to meet."

Sanji's jaw dropped. "You're not saying—"

"No, I'm not," said Perona quickly. "Thing is … Zoro was someone's soulmate."

Sanji stared at her. "What?"

"Zoro … well, he was human. For nineteen years of his life he was human. And then he met her. I've heard them say that human being will fall in love twice in their life, true love." Sanji would've laughed at the fairy-tale like way of putting it, but he supposed he couldn't really critic it, especially since he was sitting in front of a fairy. "Zoro … being fundamentally human at his core, could fall in love again and because of that, Mihawk's pressing a … proposal of sorts."

"He's being forced to marry, I know," Sanji said. He crossed his legs and leaned forward, but Perona held him back.

"Zoro said you can't swim, stay away from the edge."

It surprised Sanji. He knew he was Zoro's friend— he liked to think he was, but if this whole not seeing him thing kept up, he might have to question it— but he had never suspected he'd tell others about him. Maybe because he couldn't talk about Zoro to anyone else. And then something clicked in his head. "But Zoro's not human. Not now."

"It's complicated, I won't explain it to you. If you … if you decide … anyway Zoro will tell you about it when the time is right. You can probably see him because he's fundamentally human."

"But I can see you," Sanji pointed out.

"That's because I'm letting you."

Something else she had said struck him. "You said if I decide. Decide what?"

"You seem to care a lot about Zoro's wings."

Changing the topic, was she? Fine, Sanji would roll with it. "Yeah. They just hang off of him like extra appendages that he doesn't use, or take care of, like … like he doesn't want them."

"It's not that he doesn't want them," said Perona, "though I doubt he considers them normal on his person still. It's that … Well, wing-maintenance comes with being able to fly."

"You mean …?"

"Zoro can't fly."

Sanji had to take a moment to let it all sink in. Zoro … couldn't fly? So that meant his wings had been clipped, or something of that sort. He was handicapped in the eyes of fairies, besides also having been previously married. "How …? Is it because—"

"It has nothing to do with being human," Perona said. "It's … well, you know Zoro's a swords-fairy." Wow, that sounded weird. "Mihawk, his guardian is also a swords-fairy. Greatest in the seas and probably on land too. Zoro married into a … a very high up family in the simplest of terms. It's complicated."

"Seems everything is nowadays," Sanji grumbled.

"Sorry about that. I can't explain things all too well because of the whole culture difference. I have to find words that match yours in human language. His soulmate, she was Mihawk's daughter. And … well, Mihawk decided to test Zoro's strength and worth. It didn't end well."

"That scar …?"

"That was part of it. After he crippled him, Zoro said that a scar on a swordsman's back is a dishonour." Perona bit her lip and played with her fingers a little. She wouldn't meet his eyes. "Anyway, Zoro doesn't tell anyone about it, he doesn't talk about it. He doesn't really have to, he's the humiliation of the sea."

"I … I don't think you should tell me anymore," Sanji said softly. "I'm invading his privacy."

"That's why I wanted to tell you."

"But I feel bad about it!"

Perona shook her head. "It's hard to explain but … Anyway, don't go looking for Zoro. You shouldn't, it'll only aggravate Mihawk more. You don't want him upset with you. It'll end badly."

Sanji bit his lip and nodded slowly. "Got it …"

Perona's head tilted suddenly and she sighed. "I've got to go. The Counsel's having a meeting, to figure out what to do with Zoro now and I kinda of have to be there."

"Are you forcing him to get married too?"

"No, it's more like … I can't explain it."

"You can't explain a lot of things, can you?" Sanji's tone was gentle, sympathetic. Though he didn't understand everything he still felt bad for her. She was caught in the middle of some traditional transaction where at least one side was refusing to cooperate.

"You're sweet," she said softly. Leaning up quickly, she gave Sanji a quick kiss on the cheek before diving into the water.

She was gone.

And apparently, so was Zoro.

* * *

Sanji was buying extra food for the Baratie when he met her.

She was a cute girl wearing somewhat geeky glasses, looking through her wallet, trying to see if she had enough cash to buy her groceries. To be honest though, the first thing Sanji actually noticed about her was not the cute way she frowned while concentrating or her interesting blue hair, or the fact that she was wearing a woollen coat in the middle of summer, or even that she was holding up the entire line. What he noticed first was the sword.

Sheathed around her waist was a sword, undeniably. Probably an antique and to strap it to her belt in such a fashion … Sanji was reminded of him.

"Need help?" he asked.

The girl jumped nearly a foot in the air. "You scared me!" she admitted, turning to see him. "I just spent a lot of money, I don't know if I can afford the groceries."

Sanji's eyes wandered to the sword. "I'll cover it," he said with a smile. He paid the cashier and the girl refused almost comically.

"No, I couldn't possibly, I don't like owing people, I'm not … I uh … I just mean that I don't have any way of paying you back, I really couldn't —"

"Then … consider taking me out for dinner?" asked Sanji.

The girl got even more flustered. "I barley know you, you're a complete stranger, I couldn't possibly …"

Sanji held out his hand. It was endearing how red she could get in a matter of seconds. "My name's Sanji, and your name would be?"

"T-Tashigi," she said in a quivering tone. "But I really couldn't intrude or impose, I—"

"I've invited you, I hardly think that's intruding," Sanji told her smoothly. "And if anything, I'm imposing myself on you. I promise for our date I'll be a perfect gentleman though, if you'll have me?"

Tashigi stared at him and shook her head slowly. "I … I know your type. You …"

"Pick up girls at grocery stores? Not often, in fact, you're the first." Sanji grinned. "It doesn't have to mean anything, just one date and when it's over, if you don't like me, feel free to spill fancy wine on my head. What do you say?"

Tashigi seemed absolutely frozen.

Sanji took out a pen and paper, quickly writing down his number. "Think about it, call me if you'd like."

He left her standing there in awe. It felt good. He hadn't had a girlfriend in a while, Zoro taking up a lot of his time. And though he knew it was wrong, when he looked at her he could see so many similarities to Zoro in her.

The sword, the odd hair colour, the slight awkwardness.

He smiled to himself.

Perhaps she'd be his new girl.

* * *

Sanji was cooking when the call came.

He nearly dropped the oil when his phone started ringing. An unknown phone number.

Tashigi.

"Hello?" he said, turning down the stove.

"H-hi."

Sanji grinned. She sounded adorable. "Going to take me up on that offer?" he asked.

"Do you remember me?" asked Tashigi softly.

"Why wouldn't I remember you?"

"Because … you're you," she said softly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sanji's tone was gentle and soothing. He knew exactly how to handle women. Perhaps he didn't understand how relationships ended with them, but he knew how to start them for sure. He was rather charming after all.

"You're that boy who father's warn their daughters about, the heartbreaker."

"And yet you're calling me." Sanji chuckled softly. "I can't be that bad if I passed the first test."

"Excuse me?"

"I've gotten you interested, am I right?" Sanji pressed the phone to his ear and started cleaning up the kitchen. "Look, I'm not a bad guy, I don't want to break your heart, if you so choose to give it to me. Rather I want to get to know you. If you agree to go out to dinner with me, I won't do anything you don't want. If you'd rather we think of this as two people meeting and repaying favours, then think of it that way. So long as you don't mind paying."

He could tell this was about the time the girl would be grinning slightly against her own volition. "You won't do anything?"

"You would have complete control," Sanji assured her. "I like to make women happy, I like to respect them."

"You don't even know me," she pointed out.

"And you don't know me. Though I think you already know a few things about me and I already know a few things about you. For example, you wear cute glasses, have an interested in antique swords, and call up strangers when they give you their number." She laughed a bit at that. "One date. What do you say?"

There was a pause on the other end. "I …"

Sanji waited. To press too much would become annoying and then it certainly wouldn't happen. He wasn't lying, he never lied to women. He liked her, she was someone he would like to get to know better, wherever it may lead.

"Okay."

Sanji grinned. "Wonderful. I'll meet you at the Baratie, say seven?"

"What if I'm busy tonight?"

"Then I'll just have to wait," Sanji said. "I'm sure it's worth the wait."

"I'm not busy tonight, it was just if hypothetically, I was and all …" She seemed to be chuckling to herself but when she spoke again she sounded alarmed. "The Baratie? That's a rich place—"

"It's on me."

"But then it's not a debt repaid," she pointed out.

"Good point. Guess it's just a date."

He could feel her grin through the phone.

"You have a beautiful smile."

"You can't even see me."

"I'm sure it's beautiful," Sanji said.

When he hung up he stared at the cutting board in front of him. Well he had been completely wrong. Where Zoro was all rough and sharp edges she was soft and smooth. She was pleasant. He considered the course for the night. He knew he cooked a great sashimi, but looking out the window at the lake, he shook his head. It was a strange thought, but what if he accidentally chopped up one of Zoro's fish friends?

Nah, better play it safe and make some yakisoba.

* * *

She was breathtaking.

Dressed in a floral shirt, that same woollen jacket and a pair of slightly fancy jeans Sanji felt overdressed. She truly was amazing. She looked slightly lost, though that was okay, she looked cute that way.

"Where is everyone?"

"Oh, didn't I mention? The Baratie is closed for the month," Sanji said, stepping out from the kitchen, his hands in his pockets, a cigarette between his lips. "You look beautiful," he added with a grin.

Tashigi stared at his cigarette for a moment, as though in a daze.

"Sorry, does it annoy you?" asked Sanji, about to take it out when she shook her head.

"No, it's fine. What brand is that?"

"You smoke?" he asked. She was just full of surprises, wasn't she?

"No, someone I know does though." He could tell from the far away look in her eyes she was somewhere he couldn't reach, thinking about someone special.

"Yakisoba good?" he asked her. "I should've asked if you had any allergies."

"But you said it's closed," Tashigi said. He could see the gears working in her head. The door was unlocked, the room was well-lit, but there was no one other than herself and him in the room. He said they were closed for the month and yet he was asking her what she wanted. He knew the moment it clicked in her head. "You?"

"Me," he said, shrugging. "Yakisoba good?"

"Are you in charge?"

"Temporarily. I'm the sous-chef." He gestured the set table in the middle of the room. "Impressed?"

"Shocked," she corrected him.

"It'll be ready in a moment, if you'll wait just a few more minutes," Sanji said. "Unless you'd like to join me?"

"Inside the kitchen?"

"That's where food tends to be made, so yes, in the kitchen," Sanji told her teasingly.

Tashigi's eyes seemed to widen as she took everything in around her and slowly she walked towards him. He took her hand gently and lead her into the kitchen. The smell of cooking food hit her hard and he could tell she was tasting it if she closed her eyes.

"Isn't it bad to smoke around the food?" asked Tashigi, frowning slightly.

"Not really," Sanji said with a shrug. "So long as ash doesn't fall into anything." There was silence as she watched him cook. Unlike usual he didn't feel the need to impress her any further, like showing off how wonderfully he knew the kitchen.

When he was finished they exited and he pulled out her chair for her. She looked slightly upset about it, as though he were mocking her. Perhaps she was one of those feminist types who didn't like being looked down upon.

"So, Tashigi, tell me about yourself," Sanji said, squashing out his cigarette and placing it in the ashtray.

"I … there's not much to tell. I'm twenty-one, I'm studying to be an officer …"

"And the sword?"

"I … I like to collect them," she said almost sheepishly. "I know it's a bit of an odd hobby, they kind of went out of style when the Bakumatsu period ended, huh? That was over two hundred years ago."

"Swords never go out of style," Sanji said.

Something twinkled in Tashigi's eyes, like a child seeing candy on Halloween. "Really?" He could tell this was something she was very passionate about.

"I don't know much about them," Sanji admitted, "but I've developed an appreciation for kenjutsu."

"Yeah?" Her blue eyes twinkled. "I could teach you, about it I mean. I know a bit of kenjutsu myself."

"Really?" Sanji grinned. "I think that would be fun."

They ate with pleasant conversation, both deeply engaged in the topic of swordsmanship and its history. Though it was all good fun, Sanji couldn't help but notice that her eyes kept going towards his squashed cigarette.

"This friend of yours," he said slowly. "The one who smokes," he clarified. "What's he like?"

Tashigi frowned, as though it were something that she had forgotten about and was now brought back to the surface, despite her attempts to forget about it. "He … he's very strong," she said simply and that was all she seemed to be willing to tell him about the man who smoked.

Sanji knew in that instance exactly what was happening. They were both doing the exact same thing.

Burying something deep inside of them by ways of distraction. Sanji did not use women, he did like Tashigi but there was something about her that reminded him of Zoro and he couldn't ignore it. In her … He could see Zoro. And he missed it.

"Can you look at me, Tashigi?" he asked softly.

The girl tilted her head up.

"Look me in the eyes, Tashigi."

Hesitantly and shaking, she met his gaze. He knew it. She wasn't here, she was somewhere far away.

"Let's drop pretences, okay? I want you to be honest with me. Why did you agree to meet me?"

"You offered."

"That's not why and we both know it."

Tashigi looked ready to cry. "Because …" She turned away from him, unable to meet his gaze anymore. Suddenly she lurched forwards and Sanji caught her quickly. She was silently sobbing. Sanji knew he couldn't move from his position, if he did she'd fall forward onto the now-dirty plates. He gripped her shoulders and tried to position himself into a comforting pose, but it didn't work. Instead, he stood up and leaned across the table more in silence as she dug her face into his collar, her tears hitting his neck.

After a few minutes in this somewhat awkward position, she pulled away and stood up. "I'm sorry, I'm a mess," she said. "This isn't fair to you—"

"No, I'm not being fair," Sanji said. "Just step back. I'm not letting you leave in this state and we're going to have a good, long conversation. I can't have you crying, now can I?"

She snivelled but otherwise said nothing as Sanji pushed back the table and grabbed the unopened champagne bottle and two glasses. "Sit."

She sat.

"Tell me about him," he said softly.

"It … it hurts."

"It always does, but the only way you're going to feel better is if you talk about it. A secret for a secret, yeah? Let's trade."

There was silence until—

"You smell like smoke."

Sanji was silent, knowing she needed to get everything out.

"You … you smell like smoke, and cigarettes and …" She paused, trying to catch her breath. "You smell like him."

"Who is he?"

"An officer," she said softly. "Captain rank. He helps out at the school I go to from time to time, as a drill instructor." Her voice was shaky, the after-affects of crying settling into her tone. She was visibly shaking, unsteady. Trembling. "He's … It's so wrong, he's older than me. More than ten years."

"Did you …"

"Yeah. He told me no."

Sanji stretched out his leg and sighed, staring at the ceiling, chewing on the tip of his cigarette. "I'm not going to tell you I know your pain, but I've lost someone too. Not in the same way, but it feels like that. They're older than me too. A lot older." He couldn't explain it and he was sure he couldn't just tell her about fairies, so he kept it vague, but it felt good to talk about it. He had never followed his own advice before. "I didn't get a chance to tell them anything, though I don't know what I'd say. I woke up one day and they were just … _gone_. After they told me nothing would change. They're getting married."

Tashigi was quiet before she spoke up softly. "You keep saying they, is it …?"

"Yeah."

"Are you …?"

"No," Sanji shook his head, letting out a hoarse laugh that held no humour. "At least, I wasn't until now. Don't think I am. It's just … him. He's …" He sighed and the next word he breathed out felt secretive, as if he'd put too much emotion into it and it held all of his precious secrets. "Special." He glanced at her, who was staring at him. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry," she said.

"I don't even know how I feel," Sanji admitted. "Just … being around him … it's … _different_. I can't even explain it."

"Like you can breathe and at the same time are suffocating?" she offered.

"Yeah. Kinda like that." Sanji squashed out his cigarette. "I love him, don't I?"

"I think you do," she said softly.

Sanji chuckled. "Look at us, moaning about unrequited love. Figures the moment I figure out what my feelings are, everything stops before they start."

"I thought I was the only one," said Tashigi softly.

"No, you're not. We're not. The hardest thing about unrequited love is that we think it's a crime. There are thousands of people just like us. I think you're strong. To deal with it, to not speak of it, to keep it all bottled up. Does your chest hurt?"

"All the time."

Sanji nodded. "You know what? If you ever need to complain about it, cry or shout or whatever, call me. It's not healthy to keep it all in."

"But …"

"This doesn't mean you're weaker," he said, wiping away a newly shed tear slowly. "You're strong, that doesn't change a single thing." He breathed in deeply. "The world's unfair, isn't it? It knows your strong, so it's dealt you these cards. That doesn't mean it should hurt you. Just because you can handle it, doesn't mean you should have to."

Tashigi smiled and it was something tragic and yet beautiful.

Many of the world's greatest treasures were broken.

* * *

A week later a stone came hurtling through Sanji's kitchen window, causing him to drop the plate he had been washing. It broke into several pieces and who did he see standing outside his window?

Zoro.

"You're such an ass-baka," Sanji snapped. "Three weeks without a word?"

"Are we married?" Zoro pointed out, rolling his eyes. "Something came up. I was busy."

"Doing what?"

"Stuff."

Sanji took a deep breath. Right. Zoro owed him nothing, he didn't have to tell him everything, even if Sanji really wanted to know. Some may say all you had to do was ask, yet he knew that even if he asked Zoro might not want to share. He wasn't ready yet. He stared at his wings, a new light shining on them.

"You have horrible aim," Sanji said, drying his hands on a dishtowel. "Wait out there for a minute."

He exited the house and found Zoro to be standing in the exact place he had left him. He would've thought he'd have moved a bit, maybe shifted, maybe sat in the grass. But he didn't, he just stood there, with his back to Sanji.

"Oi, what is with this?" demanded Sanji, causing Zoro to jump. Sanji held up the stone in his hand, waving it in Zoro's face. "Do you understand that you're paying for that window?"

"Tough shit, I don't have any human money."

"Come on, you gotta tell me about everything I missed." Though it had been three weeks, at the same time Sanji felt as though not a moment had passed. "I gotta tell you, I met this girl—"

"Stop."

Sanji blinked. "What?"

Zoro gnawed at his bottom lip for a moment before shaking his head. "I can't stay. Not long anyway. I'm not supposed to be up here. I've been … grounded, in a way."

"You're over three hundred years old, how the fuck did you get grounded?"

"I upset the Counsel," Zoro said. "It's nothing major,—"

"Don't lie to me!" Sanji shouted. He hated it when Zoro lied to him, when he left him out of his life, as though he were too stupid to understand it. It made the space between them so much more evident and he hated it. He hated it because it made it feel like it was impossible to bridge that gap, like there was no way, no matter how hard he tried, he could ever reach Zoro and his world. He knew he couldn't but he liked to think, hope, he could.

Zoro flinched.

"This has to do with that whole marriage thing, doesn't it?" Though he knew that it was none of his business, he was glad when Perona had told him Zoro had refused the proposal. Furthermore, even if he knew nothing about the woman who may have her heart on the line, he just felt it was a cheap move of the Counsel to force a relationship. But … even if Zoro had refused, if it meant he got in trouble, if it meant he couldn't see him … "Just marry her already."

"I can't."

Sanji stared at him. He knew exactly what should happen, if this were a movie. Zoro would confess his undying love to Sanji and kiss him, then the two of them would elope somewhere, living inside a quaint house with a picket fence and two point five children running around the yard (regardless of the fact that they were both men and could not have children together, and ignoring that Zoro was a fairy). But it wasn't a movie and such things didn't happen.

"What do you mean?"

"I … Well for one, she doesn't want to marry me." Sanji felt bad for the wave of relief that washed over him. "And even if she did … marriage … it's not supposed to be decided by a law. It's not something you can force to happen, it's not something you can _make_ someone feel, it just happens that way. You just sort of … fall." There was a look in his eyes that just couldn't be described that hit something in Sanji's chest forcefully and left him breathless. "Do you get what I mean?"

"Yeah."

There was something beautiful about seeing Zoro face the sun, his shadow in contrast to Sanji's by quite a lot. His wings shining, glistening. It was beautiful. No …

 _Zoro_ was beautiful.

"So that's it?" Sanji said. "You can't marry her so you're grounded and you can't see me anymore?" His voice had gotten quieter, much softer, much more cautious.

"Something like that."

Sanji knew the answer to the question before he asked it, but he needed to know. "Are you in love with someone else?"

Zoro gulped and stared straight ahead. "Yeah." His voice was hoarse, husky. It sent shivers down Sanji's spine and he couldn't speak. He couldn't find words. "I am."

"Can you marry them instead?"

"It's complicated."

Everything was complicated now it seemed.

"You mentioned a girl?" Zoro turned towards Sanji and none of the sorrow in his words could be seen in his face, no trace of unhappiness, he looked normal. Gruff and slightly too violent, but normal for Zoro. "Who is she?"

"Tashigi," said Sanji. "Do you have time for a story?"

Zoro glanced at the sun, as though it were going to tell him the answer to all of Sanji's questions. "Yeah, I've got time."

Sanji felt as though he were lying, as though he were on the edge of punishment and damnation, but he was going to stay anyway. Something fluttered in his chest, wondering if it was because he had asked, because it was him.

Sanji and Zoro talked, making up for lost time. There was no more mention of his previous near-engagement, just about what pointless shit they had been doing. He kept Tashigi's secret, it was something that, if she ever met Zoro, she should tell him if she ever decided to. Sanji made Zoro a meal and he enjoyed it. It was very domestic of them, as though there was no barrier, as though he and Sanji were the only ones in the universe, like they could live like this forever, in the quiet house with no other cooks by the side of a lake, talking into the late hour of the night about nothing.

"I should get going," Zoro said when the sun had set and the moon was rising.

"Sorry, are you going to get in trouble?"

"Nah," Zoro shook his head but Sanji could tell he was lying.

He said nothing, watching as Zoro left, not once looking back and he wondered when, given the new circumstances, he'd see Zoro next.

Tashigi was lucky. Her target, there were so few things against them. An age difference, that was all. Sex, species, customs and culture were all things that stood in Sanji's way. He thought he had known love, but he realized then that he was nowhere close. He had never felt such a strong pull towards someone. It felt like drowning on dry land, like all his bones were on fire, like he would suffocate without him.

No one knew what love was until they saw everything they had ever wanted walk away and you had to watch, knowing you could reach out as far as you possibly could, and yet you'd never reach them. Never touch their feelings, never breach the gap.

Sanji preferred when love was easy and everything made sense, but he supposed maybe that was what love was. Craziness and unpredictability. And he supposed he had no other choice than to just accept it.

But God did it hurt.

* * *

Tashigi and he were by the lake. He felt closer to Zoro this way, even if Zoro wasn't there to talk to him. Tashigi had not cried once since that day and instead spoke in an even tone, as though her unrequited love was a fact, same way humans needed oxygen to breathe, something undisputed and unchangeable. Sanji felt he would have preferred her crying than the defeated look in her eyes.

"I know I've asked you before but … what's he like?" asked Sanji. "Why do you love him?"

"I just do, I can't put it into words," Tashigi said, looking out onto the lake. There was something calming about it.

"Try," Sanji pressed.

"He … if you were to meet him, I think you would either be best friends or worst enemies. Your relationship with him is very … eccentric, in whatever direction it goes," she started slowly and hesitantly. "He's … he's not one for rules, he follows his own justice, even if it doesn't coincide with the government. He thinks all lies should be exposed, he'll let the ones who are innocent get away, he doesn't try to hide it when someone was wrongly accused, he admits to it. He's … he's something else. He's … what I aspire to be. Rough around the edges, but good at heart. Bad at communication, maybe a bit dim at times." She laughed to herself and he could feel it. Feel her love when she talked about him. "I love him … I love him because of everything he is. Because of stupid reasons. I love him because he smokes two cigars at a time, I love him because he's got them attached to him like most officers keep extra ammunition. I love him because he yells a bit too much, because he's a pretty godawful instructor, because he likes his coffee black. I love him because he's kind to kids and surprising, because he knows his morals and knows who he is and who he wants to be. I love him because he's got scars, because he's rough with the students, because he tells exaggerated stories about the force to entertain others, I love him because he can smile even after seeing death, because he's learned to accept it and has become stronger from it. I love him because … he's him."

"He's an idiot," Sanji told her softly.

"Nah, I'm the idiot," she said softly. "I knew it wouldn't work. He's so much older than me, he's married to his work, he doesn't have time for things like that. But I still … I don't even know why." She shook her head. "I always wanted to fall in love. But now that I am … I wish they told me about the aching and hurting. I would've avoided it if I had known it."

"It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all," Sanji said softly. "They don't account for loving and never having. Those people knew shit about this."

Tashigi laughed bitterly. "What about you? Why do you love him?"

Sanji shook his head. "It's .. He's like nothing you've ever seen," he said softly. "He's like fire and ice and rage. He's like night and the storm in the heart of the sun. He's ancient and forever. He burns at the centre of time and he can see the turn of the universe and he's wonderful. It's so … it's just so complicated. He's everything. Standing beside him I feel small and bigger at the same time, like I could live for eternity with him. I feel … infinite. Like I could do anything as long as he's beside me."

Tashigi nodded. "Yeah. I guess. Do you ever regret meeting him?"

"No." How could he? Zoro was the greatest thing that had ever happened to him, a new friend, a new world. To say he regretted it would be like saying he regretted being able to have the privilege to see into a world that no other could see. "Never. It's … now that I've met him, I can't remember my life before him, it's just blurs and people and faces. I can't imagine what I would be like if I hadn't met him because I _have_ and to think of living without him … It would involve erasing all sorts of fond memories I have."

"I think I understand. Everyone you meet has affected you in some way. Because you've never gone down a path without him at this point, you don't know where you would go?"

"You're not making any sense."

"I didn't think I did."

The two laughed.

"You're beautiful," Sanji said softly. "I wasn't lying, you really are. If there wasn't him … I think I could very well fall in love with you."

Tashigi shook her head. "No, I don't think you could."

"And why not?"

"I went out with you because you smelled like smoke. You went out with me because I had that sword, am I right?"

Sanji sighed. "I suppose you're right. I'm glad I know him, otherwise I might've never met you and I would've really missed out. You're a wonderful person."

"Thank you."

Sanji looked at her, at her blue hair and beautiful blue eyes. He wanted to will himself to love her. She was amazing, truly. She was interesting, she had goals in her life, she was achievable. He wanted to force himself to love her, for his own sake to make the throbbing stop, and for hers, because she deserved to be loved.

With a shaking hand, Sanji reached out, cupping her face. She reminded him so much of Zoro. Swordsmanship, strange hair, awkwardness but a great personality underneath it all. She almost had the same tragic look on her face, though they were for different reasons, hers for her unrequited feelings, Zoro's for a reason unknown, but probably for his dead wife. He stroked her cheek gently and she leaned into his touch. His cigarette had long-since burnt out and she was leaning closer, probably to get some of that scent of his, the smoke, the reminder of her love.

"Close your eyes," he said softly. "Just … pretend I'm him."

He watched as her eyelids slid close and she breathed in his scent, leaning closer unconsciously. He closed his own in return.

If he could just imagine, just picture him and he could, could see him clear as day, he would feel better. He could see in his mind Zoro with his somewhat spiky green hair, his grey eyes holding so much emotion, his mouth turned up in a half-smile, his arm around Sanji's waist, pulling him closer.

He was so close, he could feel him, could almost taste him. He'd probably taste like sea water and grass, there was something so earth-like to Zoro, as if it were an extra quality of his that just made him humble and more down-to-earth.

"Zoro …"

Almost immediately he was pushed back and he shut his eyes more tightly. Right, this was reality. Zoro wasn't here and that gentle shove to his chest had been from Tashigi, not Zoro. Zoro wouldn't push him away, he wouldn't let Sanji get close enough to need to push him away.

"Sorry."

"Is that his name?"

Sanji bit his lip, feeling more than a little embarrassed. "Yeah."

"Tell me more about him. How did you meet him?"

"It's a bit of a funny story …" Sanji shook his head. "I almost took advantage of you, you should've just slapped me right about now," he said chuckling softly.

"You told me to pretend you were him."

"Didn't work, did it?"

"No, not really." Tashigi sighed. "I wish I could fall in love with you. It would be so much easier if it was like that. You'd love me, if I loved you, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I would," Sanji said.

"You would be so easy to love," she said with a sigh. "Why can't I just …"

"Love's not like that," Sanji said. "You don't control it, you just can't. It's not something you can force to happen, it's not something you can _make_ someone feel, it just happens that way. You just sort of … fall."

"That's deep," she said softly.

"Those are his words," he said with a bittersweet grin.

"He sounds amazing."

"He really is." Sanji tilted his head towards the sky. "You know what? I'm actually really glad you stopped me from kissing you."

"Gee, thanks," Tashigi said sarcastically. "I wasn't all that eager to kiss you either."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it." Sanji leaned back in the grass and placed his arms behind his head. "I just mean … I feel like I've matured somehow, that I'm not trying to bury everything underneath pointless, meaningless hook-ups. That I'm not resorting to something so childish, I'm kind of proud of myself."

"I'm glad I didn't kiss you either."

The two looked at each other and laughed.

This was nice. Sanji could get used to this. He and Tashigi shared something intimate that didn't have to be romantic, something that no one other than them themselves could fully understand. Though, he would've loved it if Zoro was here.

Little did he know Zoro had been there.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2**_ _: The thank-you goes to one person,_ _veryfineautumn4869_ _. So I think I might've killed you again. Sorry about that. So 4 things: first of all, I seriously started shipping Tashigi and Sanji during this story. I keep shipping the distractions with the main characters. Now for the next 2 things, which are basically if you caught them things. First came a quote, my FAVORITE_ _ **Doctor Who**_ _quote, and right after that quote comes the one about wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimpy stuff. And then of course, the 10th Doctor's monologue. Sorry, I've become a serious_ _ **Doctor Who**_ _fan who watched WAY too much David Tennant. I'm on my last 10th Doctor season and I am sad about it. Anyway, so I put that quote in there. I don't own it. Can you tell what it is? The other was I made a reference to a Frank Sinatra song, can you tell me which song it was? And lastly, what did you think of Tashigi? Guys, PLEASE REVIEW! It keeps me motivated._


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